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PAPERS 



RELATIVE TO THE 

ORIGIN AND PRESENT STATE 

OF THE 

QUESTIONS 

PENDING WITH THE 

UNITED STATES OP AMERICA, 

ON THE SUBJECT OF THE 

MALYINAS, (FALKLAND ISLANDS,) 

LAID BEFORE THE LEGISLATURE OF BUENOS- AYRES 
BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PROVINCE CHARG- 
ED WITH THE DIRECTION OF THE FO- 
REIGN RELATIONS OF THE 

ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 



BUENOS-AYRES : 

PRINTED AT THE OFFICE OF THE GACETA MERCANTIL. 



[translation.] 
TO THE HON. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF 
THE PROVINCE. 



Buenos- A yres, September 18, 1832. 

The Delegate Government has the honor to inform the Gentle- 
men of the House of Representatives, that, in pursuance of the 
communication made bf His Excellency the Governor, in his 
message to the Legislature, on the subject of the unpleasant oc- 
currence which had taken place at the island of La Soledad, (one 
of the Malvinas,) it has deemed it its duty to lay before them all 
the papers relative to the origin and present state of the negotia- 
tion carried on, in consequence thereof, prior to the departure of 
the U. S. sloop of war Lexington, captain Silas Duncan, from these 
roads for the Malvinas ; and subsequently, from the arrival of the 
Minister of the Government of Washington till the moment of his 
receiving his passport. 

The Hon. Representatives of the Province, on perusing this 
correspondence, will doubtless find, that, in this weighty and deli- 
cate affair, the Government has endeavoured to fulfil, as it pro- 
mised, its resolution of sustaining its rights with firmness ; seeking, 
by the pacific means which honesty, good faith and sound reason 
suggest, reparation for the scandalous aggression and heinous out- 
rage committed by an officer of the U. S. Navy. 

The Government flatters itself that the Cabinet of Washington 
will not sully its glory, nor cast a blot upon its fame, by refusing 
to make such redress as becomes the honor and dignity of the two 
Republics. 

His Excellency the Governor has directed that such further in- 
formation as may be required on the subject, shall be afforded 
your Hon. House, through the Minister of Foreign Relations, who 
will attend your Hon. House for that purpose. 

The undersigned has, on this occasion, the pleasure of saluting 
the Gentlemen of the House of Representatives with his highest 
consideration and respect. 

MANUEL VICENTE DE MAZA. 



2 



PAPERS* 




(copy.) 

Consulate of the United States of America, ) 
Buenos- Ayres, 21st. November, 1831. $ 

The undersigned, Consul of the United States, has the honor to 
make known to His Excellency the Minister for Foreign Affairs, 
that he has this moment been informed of the arrival in this port 
yesterday of the American schooner Harriet, Davison master, of 
Stonington, a prize to this Government forcibly taken at the Falk- 
land Islands by orders of Governor Vernet. 

The undersigned is at a loss to conceive upon what possible 
ground a bona-fide American vessel, while engaged in a lawful 
trade, should be captured by an officer of a friendly Government, 
and with which the United States are happily on terms of the most 
perfectly good understanding and amity. And he cannot bring 
himself to believe that the Government of Buenos-Ayres will 
sanction an act which, under its present aspect, must be viewed as 
one calculated materially to disturb them. 

The importance of this subject has induced the undersigned to 
lose not a moment in bringing it before His Excellency the Minis- 
ter, with the earnest request,and in the confident expectation, that 
he will with all convenient despatch inform him if this Government 
intends to avow and sustain the seizure of the aforesaid vessel. 

The undersigned avails himself of this occasion to renew to 
His Excellency the Minister the assurances of his highest consi- 
deration and respect. 

GEO. W. SLACUM. 



PAPERS. 



[ No. II. ] 



(translation.) 

Department of Foreign Relations, 4 
Buenos-Ayres, Nov. 25, 1831. \ 

The undersigned, Minister of Foreign Relations, has received 
the note under date of the 21st. inst., in which the Consul of the 
U. S. makes known to him that he has been informed of the arrival 
in this port of the American schooner Harriet, Davison master, of 
Stonington, a prize taken on the coasts of the Malvinas, by order 
of Governor Vernet, and requests to be informed whether this 
Government intends to avow and sustain the seizure of the afore- 
said vessel. 

To reply duly to the Consul of the U. S., the undersigned Mi- 
nister can only state that the case of the before-mentioned schoo- 
ner Harriet is now in the Ministry of War and Marine, and that 
after the customary forms shall have been observed, it will 
be laid before the Government, whose resolution thereon will 
be in accordance with what the laws of the country prescribe. 

The undersigned salutes the Consul of the U. S. with his most 
distinguished consideration. 

TOMAS MANUEL DE ANCHORENA. 



PAPERfc. 



[ No. III. ] 



(copy.) 

Consulate of the United States of America, i 
Buenos-Ayres, 26th. November, 1831. \ 

The undersigned Consul of the United States has the honor to 
acknowledge the note of H. E. the Minister for Foreign Affairs 
under date of yesterday, in answer to one from the Consulate 
dated 21st. inst., in which he is informed that " the subject of the " 
American schooner Harriet is actually before the Department of 
the Minister of War and Marine, and that after the customary 
forms shall have been observed, it will be placed before the Go- 
vernment, whose decision will be conformable to what the laws of 
the country prescribe." 

This unexpected reply from H. E. the Minister cannot be view- 
ed by the undersigned in any other light than as a virtual avowal 
on the part of this Government of the right of Mr. Lewis Vernet 
to capture and detain American vessels engaged in the fisheries at 
the Falkland Islands, and the islands and coasts about Cape Horn. 
It therefore only remains to him to deny in toto any such right, as 
having been, or being now vested in the Government of Buenos 
Ayres, or in any person or persons acting under its authority ; 
and to add his most earnest remonstrance against all measures 
which may have been adopted by said Government, including the 
decree issued on the 10th. of June, 1829, asserting a claim to the 
before-mentioned Islands and Coasts and the fisheries appurtenant 
thereto, or any other act or decree having the same tendency, and 
also the circular letter of the said Vernet, issued in consequence 
of the same; as well as against all such measures as may here- 
after be adopted by said Government, or persons acting under its 
authority, which are calculated in the remotest degree to impose 1 
restraints upon the citizens of the United States engaged in the [ 
fisheries in question, or to impair their undoubted right to the 1 
freest use of them. 

The undersigned cannot but regret that a subject of so impor- 
tant and serious a nature should have arisen ; but nevertheless, 



PAPERS. 5 

his duty to his Government, as well as to the rights and interests of 
his fellow citizens, impels him to request that H. E. the Minister 
for Foreign Affairs will be pleased to receive this communication 
as a formal protest on the part of the Government of the United 
States against that of Buenos Ayres, and all and every person or 
persons acting under its authority, for the illegal and forcible sei- 
zure at the Falkland Islands aforesaid, by order of the said Ver- 
net, of the American schooner Harriet, as well as of the Superior 
and Breakwater, of which the undersigned has also received in- 
formation ; as also for the violent arrest and imprisonment of their 
officers and crews, American citizens ; and for the consequences 
thereof. 

The undersigned, in performing this duty, begs H. E. the Minis- 
ter for Foreign Affairs to accept the assurances of his distinguished 
consideration and respect. 

GEO. W. SLACUM. 

His Excellency, 

The Minister for Foreign Affairs. 



PAPERS. 



[ NO. IV. ] 

x (translation.) 
TO THE CONSUL OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Department of Foreign Relations, ) 
Buenos-Ayres, December 3, 1831. y 

The undersigned, Minister of Foreign Relations, has received 
the note dated 26th. ult., in which the Consul of the U. S. acknow- 
ledges the receipt of that which the undersigned addressed him, 
under date of the 25th of the same month, stating, in reply to a 
former communication, that the case of the capture and detention 
of the American schooner Harriet is in the Ministry of War and 
Marine, and that after the customary forms shall have been ob- 
served, it will be laid before the Government, whose resolution 
thereon will be in accordance with what the laws of the country 
prescribe ; and then proceeds to state, that this answer being a 
virtual avowal on the part of this Government of the right of Mr. 
Lewis Vernet to capture and detain American vessels engaged in 
the seal-fishery at the Malvinas and the Islands and Coasts adjacent 
to Cape Horn, he finds himself under the necessity of denying m 
toto any such right as having been, or being now vested in the Go- 
vernment of Buenos-Ayres, or in any person or persons acting un- 
der its authority ; and of adding his most earnest remonstrance 
against all measures which may have been adopted by said Govern- 
ment, including the decree issued on the 10th. of June, 1829, as- 
serting a claim to the before-mentioned islands and coasts, and 
the fisheries appurtenant thereto, or any other act or decree hav- 
ing the same tendency, and also the circular letter of the said 
Vernet, issued in consequence thereof ; as well as against all such 
measures as may hereafter be adopted by said Government, or 
persons acting under its authority, which may be calculated in the re- 
motest degree to impose restraints upon the citizens of the United 
States engaged in the fisheries in question, or impair their right to 
the freest use of them ; and concludes by requesting that the said 
communication may be received by the undersigned as a forma] 
protest on the part of the Government of the United States against 



PAPERS. 



1 



that of Buenos-Ayres, and all and every person or persons acting 
under its authority, for the illegal and forcible seizure at the Mai- 
vinas, by order of the said Vernet, of the American schooner 
Harriet, as well as of the Superior and Breakwater, as also for 
the violent arrest and imprisonment of their officers and crews ; 
and for the consequences thereof. 

The aforesaid note having been placed before the Delegate Go- 
vernment, the undersigned received directions to reply, as he now 
does, to the Consul of theU. S., that the process which this affair 
is still undergoing in the Ministry of War and Marine, is indiffe- 
rent with respect to the resolution it may come to upon the main 
point, and only intended to enable the Government to arrive at 
the truth, in order to act as in justice bound : that it cannot ad- 
mit the said communication of the Consul of the U. S. as a formal 
protest of his Government against that of this Province ; as, 
besides its being untimely, the Consul does not make it appear 
that he is especially authorized for this purpose, and the Govern- 
ment considers that he is not, from his being only invested with 
the character of Consul, and the more so as it is an undoubtable fact 
that the Government of the U. S. possesses no right to the afore- 
said islands or coasts, nor to the fisheries thereon, whilst that vested 
in this Republic is unquestionable : that consequently the Govern- 
ment might found a just ground of complaint on the protest of the 
Consul ; but it is willing to suppose him actuated by upright mo- 
tives, and being fully convinced of the wisdom and justice which 
preside over the councils of his Government, is desirous to avoid 
any serious measure ; hoping that any question which may arise 
with the Government of the United States will be amicably ar- 
ranged by a direct understanding between the two Governments. 

The undersigned avails himself of this opportunity to renew to 
the Consul of the U. S. the expressions of his consideration and 
respect. 

TOMAS M. DE ANCHORENA. 



8 



PAPERS. 




[ IVo. V. ] 



(copy.) 

Consulate of the United States of Amebic a, ) 
Buenos- Ay res, 3d. December, 1831. \ 

The undersigned Consul of the United States has the honor to 
transmit herewith to H. E. the Minister for Foreign Affairs, a copy 
pf a letter received yesterday from Silas Duncan, Esq., command- 
ing the United States ship Lexington off this city. 

The undersigned avails himself of this occasion to salute H. E. 
the Minister with his most distinguished consideration, 

GEO. W. SLACUM. 

Pis Excellency, 



The Minister for Foreign ^ffains. 



PAPERS. 



9 




[ No. VI. ] 



(copy.) 

U. S. Ship Lexington, 
Off Buenos-Ayres, River Plate, Dec. 1st., 1831. 

Sir : 

I have received your reply to my communication of the 
29th. ult., enclosing copies of Documents in relation to the capture 
of several American vessels at the Falkland Islands, while engaged 
in the fisheries ; and, having given them the proper consideration, 
I consider it to be my duty to proceed thither with the force under 
my command, for the protection of the citizens and commerce of 
the United States engaged in the fisheries in question. 

I also learn, that, in consequence of these captures, seven Ame- 
ricans have been abandoned upon the Island of Staten Land with- 
out the means of subsistence. 

Under these circumstances, I have to request you will be pleased 
to communicate a copy of this letter to the Government of Buenos 
Ayres, under whose authority certain individuals have assumed to 
capture American vessels, in order that no misunderstanding shall 
arise with respect to the object of my visit to the Falkland Islands, 
and in conformity with the open and candid mode in which the 
affairs of the United States are conducted. 

I have the honor to be, with great respect, 
Your very ob't. Servant, 

(Signed,) S. DUNCAN. 

Commander U. S. Ship Lexington t 

Geo. W. Slactm, Esq.-, 



United States Consul, Eusnos-Ay/os, River Plate.' 



10 



PAPERS, 




[ No. VII. ] 



(translation.) 
TO THE CONSUL OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Buenos-Ayres, Dec. 6, 1831. 

The undersigned has" received the note which the Consul of the 
U. S. has addressed him, under date of the 3d. inst., transmitting 
copy of a letter which he has received from Mr. Silas Duncan, 
Commander of the ship Lexington, in this port. 

The undersigned has the honor to inform the Consul of the U. 
S. that this note has been referred to the Minister of War, and 
avails himself of the opportunity to salute him with his highest 
consideration. 

TOMAS MANUEL DE ANCHORENA. 



Papers. 




Consulate of the United States, ) 
Buenos-Ayres, Dec. 6th, 1831. $ 

The undersigned Consul of the United States has the honor to 
acknowledge the receipt of the note of H. E the Minister for Fo- 
reign Affairs, under date 3d* instant. 

In communicating with the commander of the United States 
ship Lexington, whose intention of immediately proceeding to the 
Falkland Islands, for the protection of American citizens engaged 
in the seal-fishery, has already been made known to H. E. the Mi- 
nister, he has suggested to the undersigned the propriety, as indi- 
cating the frankness by which his measures will be governed, of 
proposing that he will delay his departure until the morning of the 
9th. inst., in order to wait the receipt of any communications which 
the Government of this Province may think fit to make, having 
reference to the immediate suspension of the exercise of the right 
of capture of the vessels of the United States which may be found 
fishing within the limits claimed to be subject to the jurisdiction or 
authority of Mr. Vernet. And also, coupling with such suspension 
the immediate restoration to the legitimate owners or agents, ,of 
the schooner Harriet now detained as a prize to this Government 
at this port, as well as of all the property illegaly taken out of 
said schooner at the time of her capture or since ; or frOm Ameri- 
can citizens, at the Falkland Islands or elsewhere, by the said Ver- 
net or his agents ; and moreover, the placing them in the position 
in which they stood previous to the aforesaid captures, and the in- 
terference in the business in which they were lawfully engaged. 

The undersigned begs leave to suggest to H. E. the Minister that 
the shortness of the period within which the said commander can 
wait for an answer from this Government to the aforesaid proposi- 
tions, is in consequence of his anxiety to relieve as soon as may be, 
several distressed American seamen, left by one of the captured 
schooners, with a limited supply of provisions on Staten Land, as 
well as to put an immediate stop to further captures which may be 
making at the said Falkland Islands, by the agents of said Vernet,- 
whom he left in command there, authorized to that effect. 



12 



PAPERS. 



The undersigned is requested by the said Commander further to 
manifest to H. E. the Minister that the propositions above-men- 
tioned are based upon the spirit of the friendly relations which are 
known happily to subsist between the Government of the United 
States and that of this Province, — and more especially, upon the 
suggestion contained in the note of H. E. the Minister, that it is 
the desire of this Government amicably to settle the question of 
right in relation to the afore-mentioned fisheries, by a direct un- 
derstanding with the Government of the United States, — until 
which can take place, the undersigned concurs in opinion with the 
said Commander, that the citizens of the United States should be 
subject to no further molestation in prosecuting them. 

In concluding this note, the undersigned, willing to remove any 
doubt as to his right to protest, would observe that in so doing he 
acted under authority from his Government ; and that he cannot 
consent to its rejection or withdrawal, even had no such authority 
existed, as he has been considered, and treated with by this Go- 
vernment, as the representative of that of the United States, since 
the decease of the late Charge d' Affaires ; and he would not wil- 
lingly believe that the Government of Buenos Ayres would at this 
time offer any denial of such right so as to preclude him from de- 
fending the interests of American Citizens. 

The undersigned trusts, that H. E. the Minister will receive this 
communication as a continued earnest of his sincere desire to do all 
in his power to mantain unimpaired the present friendly relations 
of the two Governments. 

The undersigned avails himself of this occasion to renew to H. E, 
the Minister for Foreign Affairs the assurr'ances of his most distin- 
guished consideration and respect. 

GEO. W. SLACUM. 

His Excellency, 

The Minister for Foreign Affairs. 



* 



PAPERS. 



13 




* 



[ No. IX. ] 



(translation.) 
TO THE CONSUL OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Department of Foreign Relations, 
Buenos- Ay res, December 9, 1831. 




The undersigned, Minister of Foreign Relations, has. the honor 
to inform the Consul of the U. S., that the Minister of War and 
Marine has communicated to the undersigned, under date of the 7th 
inst., that the Commandant of the Malvinas, Mr. Luis Vernet, hav- 
ing presented a memorial soliciting that the departure of Mr. Gilbert 
Davison, Captain of the American schooner Harriet, should be 
prohibited until he should leave an agent duly authorized ; the said 
memorial was referred to the Attorney General, to whom the pa- 
pers relative to the capture of the aforesaid vessel had been trans- 
■ mitted ; and orders having been issued to the Captain of the Port 
to prevent the departure of the said Davison, that officer returned 
for answer that having given the suitable directions to the Ajudant 
of the Port, the latter reported that, previously to their receipt, 
Capt. Davison had embarked in a boat of the U. S. Ship Lexington, 
to go on board that vessel. And as such a step on the part of Capt. 
Davison appears to be calculated to embarass the legal. proceedings 
and the just decision of the case of the before mentioned schooner 
Harriet; the undersigned has received orders from the Govern- 
ment of this province to require, as he now does, that the Consul of 
the U. S. will have the kindness to notify to Capt. Gilbert Davison 
not to absent himself from this province without leaving an agent 
duly authorized to represent him and act for him in the said affair ; 
with the understanding that, his refusal or omission in this respect, 
will render him liable to all the damages resulting therefrom accord- 
ing to law. 

The undersigned avails himself of this opportunity to salute the 
Consul with his highest consideration and respect. 



TOMAS MANUEL DE ANCHORENA. 



1* 



PAPERS. 




[ No. X. ] 



(copy.) 

U. S. Ship LEXINGTON, i 
Off Buenos Ayres, River Plate, Dec. 7th, 1831. \ 

Sir: 

I have it in proof, upon oath, that Lewis Vernet now a resi- 
dent at this place, did plunder the American schooner Harriet oi 
almost every article on board said schooner while lying at the Falk- 
land Islands. 

The object of this note is to request, that the said Lewis Vernet 
having been guilty of piracy and robbery be delivered up to the 
U. States to be tried, or that he be arrested and punished by the 
Jaws of Buenos Ayres. 

I have the honor to be with respect 

Your obedient servant, 

S. DUNCAN, 

His Excellency, 

Thomas Manuel Anchorena, 
Minister for Foreign Affairs. 



1., 




[ No. XI. ] 

(translation.) 
TO THE CONSUL OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Buenos-Ayres, Dec. 9, 1831. 

The undersigned, Minister of Foreign Relations, received on 
the 7th inst., the note of the Coma of the U. S. dated the day pre- 
vious, which was immediately placed before the Government of the 
Province. Steadfast in the same views and principles which the 
undersigned has manifested to the Consul of the U. S. on the sub- 
ject to which his note relates, the Government has observed with 
surprise, that although aware of the multifarious weighty and urg- 
ent attentions by which, it is notorious that this Government is at 
present surrounded, and that a religious solemnity being celebrated 
here yesterday, the public offices would be closed, he did not deem 
it a breach of propriety and decorum to propose to the unde rsigned 
for this day precisely, the decision of a private litigated affair, in 
which, for that reason, the Consul could have no right to interfere ; 
and which, having to be investigated and decided conform,. >ly to 
the laws of the country, requires, -from its nature, the course of va- 
rious forms, and a serious and attentive consideration, in order no- 
wise to defraud justice. 

It is true that the Consul of the U. S. affirms that the shortness 
of the period within which the Commander of the U. S. Ship Lex. 
ington can await an answer from this Government to the proposi- 
tions made by the Consul, is in consequence of his anxiety to re- 
lieve as soon as possible, several American seamen, left by one of 
the captured schooners with a scanty supply of provisions in Sta- 
ten Land, as likewise to put an immediate stop to such further cap- 
tures as may be making in the Malvinas by the Agents whom Mr. 
Vernet left in command there, authorized for that purpose. But 
be that as it may, and waving the motives which the ^aid Comman- 
der may have for proceeding to the aforesaid Ish [s, this s not 
give any right to the Consul of the U. S. to ititerp. ;e hm b 'fore 
the Government of this Province in a private co itentious • iTur, in 
which there are parties who can exercise their rights either by 



3 



16 



JPAPEBS. 



themselves or through their agents duly authorized to that effect. 
Nor will the Government ever deviate from the line of conduct 
which justice and its own dignity point out to it, whatever the 
aforesaid Commander may think of do; the Government not re- 
cognizing in him any right to interfere in affairs of this nature. 

But, as it desires to preserve unimpaired the relations of friend- 
ship which it happily maintains with the Government of the U. S.,- 
and is persuaded that hitherto no pretext has, in anywise, been af- 
forded on its part for their interruption, it has directed the under 
signed to declare to the Consul of the U. S., that if the Commander 
of the Lexington, or any other person dependent on the said Go- 
vernment, should commit any act, or take any steps tending to set 
at naught the right which this Republic possesses to the Malvinas, 
and other islands and coasts adjacent to Cape Horn, and to prohibit 
the seal fisheries thereon, especially on the former ; the Govern- 
ment of this Province will address its formal complaint to that of 
the U. S., in the firm confidence that it will be attended to as jus- 
tice may direct, and it will use every means which it mav deem 
expedient to assert its rights and cause them to be respect; d ; as it 
is fully persuaded that the Government of the U. S. has not denied 
nor will deny those rights, and that in case any other qu stion con- 
nected with them should arise, it will not attempt to decide it by 
force, despoiling this Government of the poss ssion which it holds. 

For the rest, the Consul labors under a very remarkable mistake 
in supposing that this Government has considered and treated him 
as the Representative of the U. S. since the decee & of Mr. Forbes, 
Charge d'Affaires near this Republic ; and he ought to have known 
that it could not consider him as invested with any other character 
than that of simple Consul of the said U. S. in this Republic. View- 
ing him in this light, and the extent of the Consular functions be. 
ing well known, the chief of which is to exert himself in order that 
his fellow citizens respect the laws and authorities of the country 
in which he resides-; this Government hopes that he will hence- 
forth circumscribe himself to those functions, and cease to persist 
in the protest which he has made against rights which have been, 
and are vested in this Government, and which no one as yet has 
called in question. 

The undersigned, after having discharged his duty in this com- 
munication, has the honor to renew to the Consul of the U. S,, the 
assurances of his consideration and respect. 



TO MAS MANUEL DE ANCHORENA. 



PAPERS. 




Consulate of the United States of America, > 
Buenos-Ayres, 15th. December, 1831. > 

The undersigned, Consul of the United States, has the honor to 
acknowledge the receipt of the two notes addressed to him by His 
Excellency the Minister for Foreign Affairs, under date of the 9th. 
instant, and which were delivered into his hands at 5 o'clock P. M. 
of the same day. 

In reply to that complaining of the conduct of Captain Davison, 
late of the prize schooner Harriet, in embarking to go on board of 
the United States' bloop-of-war Lexington, for the purpose, as 
is assumed by His Excellency the Minister, of embarrassing the 
proceedings which may be carrying on in the Tribunal here for 
procuring the condemnation of said schooner, and in which it is 
urged upon the undersigned to notify the said Captain Davison not 
to depart from the Province, without previously appointing an 
Attorney or Agent to represent him in the said prosecution ; the 
undersigned begs leave to say that it was a matter of notoriety that 
the Sloop-of-war Lexington, weighed anchor and left this port, at 
12 o'cloc! , M., of the 9th., several hours previous to the receipt 
of the said note , by the undersigned, so that any efforts on his part 
to have detained the said Captain Davison, would have proved 
ineffectual, had he deemed it to be a part of his official duty to have 
made any at the urgency of this Government, appearing to be 
solely founded upon a memorial or solicitude of Lewis Vernet, — 
Moreover, it had been communicated to His Excellency the 
Minister, that the Lexington would remain in port until the morn, 
ing of the 9th., at which time it was to be presumed of course that 
she would sail, and it appears that the Government were advised 
of the said Captain Davison's having embarked to go on board of 
the said Sloop-of-war on the 7th., so that a sufficient time seems to 
have been afforded to this Government, to have served any notifi- 
cation upon him, which they might choose, without insinuating or 
charging upon him 4he intention of withdrawing from the Province, 
for any sinister purpose ; or protesting against him for damages, 
for that act, or its results. But after all, the undersigned does not 



IS 



PAPERS. 



perceive upon what principles this Government could have under- 
taken to detain the said Captain Davison, an American citizen, al- 
ready the victim of a protracted incarceration, with a view to coerce 
him to execute a Power of Attorney under any pretence or for any 
purpose, which might be alleged by the said Vernet ; when he, the 
said Davison, has not thought proper to present himself in the Tri- 
bunals to litigate any question with the said Vernet, but to denv in 
toto the right of capture in this Government, of his schooner engaged 
in sealing at the Falkland Islands, and against which the under- 
signed has protested on his behalf and that of those whom he repre- 
sents ; he the said Davison, having, on his arrival here, thrown 
himself upon the undersigned for protection and redress. 

In replying to the other note of His Excellency, the receipt of 
which is acknowledged as above, the undersigned in the first place 
takes the liberty to remark, that he cannot assent to the propriety 
of any application to him of the strong expressions of His Excellen- 
cy the Minister, if such was intended, in reference to any non-ob- 
servance of the 8th. as a day of religious solemnity, not being 
aware of any want of decorum in this respect on his part, as the 
note communicating the propositions of the Oommander of the 
Lexington, was handed to the chief clerk of the Ministry of Foreign 
Relations on the morning of the 7th. instant, and if the interval from 
that time until 12 o'clock, M. of the 9th. when the Ship sailed, may 
have been deemed too short for this Government to resolve whether 
they would or would not restore the property of American citizens 
illegally seized upon by Lewis Vernet, at the Falkland Islands ; it 
is proper for the undersigned to observe that this period, or its 
limit, which was the time of sailing of the Lexington, was not fixed 
by him, as it could not be, but by the Commander of said Ship, and 
from motives of humanity, particularly in relation to seamen left 
exposed on a desert island, as explained in said note. And here 
the undersigned is constrained to note an error into which His Ex- 
cellency the Minister, appears to have fallen, in attributing to him 
the propositions referred to, when on the contrary, they are de- 
clared by the undersigned to have emanated from the Commanded 
of the Lexington, and were communicated at his request ; and in 
regard to these propositions the undersigned is not aware that they 
involved the " resolution of a private litigious affdir," as is express 
ed by His Excellency, but on the contrary, nothing more than aa 
assent or denial to restore property illegally captured at the Falk- 
land Islands, from American citizens while engaged in a trade to 
which they have the most undoubted right ; the claim to which, 
the undersigned has authority from his Government to assert, as 
he has already made known to His Excellency the Minister ; and 
which raises a question to be settled, not by the local Tribunal of 
this country ; not by a private litigation between Mr. Vernet and 



PAPERS. 



,19 



Captain Davison, or any other private parties, but by the Govern- 
ment of the Province and that of the United States, if not of the 
other maritime nations, who are all interested in the free use of 
unappropriated fisheries, as they are of the highway of the ocean. 
And it was with the view that the question of right might so be 
referred, to be settled amicably, that the propositions before men- 
tioned were made by the Commander of the Lexington, and which 
it was supposed would accord with the friendly feelings declared 
by His Excellency the Minister, to be entertained by this Govern- 
ment, towards that of the United States, and the result would have 
been, if fortunately the propositions had been admitted the placing 
matters on the footing on which they stood previous to the outra- 
ges committed by the aforesaid Vernet. And in this connexion, 
the undersigned will- observe that notwithstanding it was distinctly 
stated by him in his note, dated the 6th. instant, which he had the 
honor to address to His Excellency the Minister, that in protesting 
against the captures of American sealing vessels at the Falkland 
Islands, &c, he acted under the authority of his Govemm3nt, 
His Excellency, the Minister, has subsequently called it in question 
In his note of the 9th. ; therefore the undersigned, in order to re- 
move all further doubt from the mind of His Excellency, upon this 
part of the subject, altho' he deemed his first assertion of the fact 
sufficient, now begs leave to inform him, that in consequence of in- 
direct information being lately laid before his Government, of the 
decree of the 10th. of June, 1829, asserting a right of sovereignty 
to the Falkland Islands, &c, and of the exclusive use of the fish- 
eries appurtenant to them ; formal instructions were sent out to the 
late Charge d'Affaires of the United States, to address to this Go- 
vernment " an earnest remonstrance against any measures that may 
" have been adopted by it, including the decree and circular letter 
" referred to, if they be genuine, which are calculated in the remo- 
*' test degree to impose any restraints whatever upon the enterprize 
" of the citizens of the United States engaged in the fisheries, in ques- 
** tion, or to impair their undoubted right to the freest use of them 
the said fisheries, having heretoforo always been considered as free 
to all nations whatever and the exclusive property of none. 

That such remonstrance was not made by the late Charge d'Af- 
faires was probably owing to the circumstance t!iat the despatches 
did not reach this country until a short time previous to his death. 

In further answer to His Excellency the Minister, the undersign- 
ed does not consider himself called upon to reply to any thing con- 
tained in the note now under consideration, which has reference to 
the motives of the Commander of the Lexington in proceeding with 
his Ship to the Falkland Islands, even if these had been, as he 
deems they were, frankly expressed in the communication trans- 
jwitted, containing his propositions ; nor to the intimation of this 



20 



PAPERS. 



Government that it will pursue the course which it has marked out 
to itself, whatever the said Commander may think or do ; these 
being matters solely for his own consideration, for which the under- 
signed is clearly not responsible ; but the undersigned cannot admit 
that he has " improperly interposed himself before the public Au- 
" thority of this Province," as declared by His Excellency the 
Minister, — in any thing that he had done, either in asking of this 
Government an avowal or disavowal of the capture of the 
schooner Harriet by Lewis Vernet, (styled by His Excellency, 
the Minister, " Comandante of the Falkland Islands,") which was 
the purport of his first note ; or in protesting against the same , as 
in his second note ; or in being the medium of communicating, in 
a sincere spirit spirit of frankness, the amicable propositions of the 
Commander of the Lexington, as in his late note in relation to this 
unpleasant business, which he cannot consider with His Excellency 
as a " private contentious affair," and " to be resolved by this Go- 
vernment conformably to what the laws of the country prescribe," 
but as one of a very different and very serious nature, involving 
an attack upon the " rights and privileges of his nation and its citi, 
zens," which it is his first and principal duty as Consul to endeavor 
at least to protect, altho' His Excellency seems to be of a different 
opinion ; and the resolution of which the municipal or local laws, 
or tramites de estilo of this Province have no more to do than those 
of the United States. But perhaps the undersigned ought to |}e 
delicate in expressing his opinion in regard to the nature and extent 
of his duties as Consul, seeing that he has been chided by His Ex- 
cellency in that particular, and who has deigned to intimate to him, 
that the principal of those duties is, to mantain over his fellow citi- 
zens a supervision in regard to their conduct in the country in which 
he resides. 

In conclusion the undersigned begs leave to say, that while he is 
unaware of any want of decorum or of improper interference in his 
official capacity before the Authorities of this Province, in the course 
which he has taken in this affair, or the correspondence to which it 
has given rise, he still deems it to be his duty to continue to insist 
upon the Protest which he has transmitted to this Government ; 
which the nature of the transaction in question so imperiously de- 
manded ; and a failure in presenting which, would have been aq 
omission of duty, and a relinquishment of an unalienable consular 
right. 

This Protest is rejected by His Excellency the Minister, and if 
the undersigned is not charged with haying transcended the line of 
his duty, he is counselled to confine himself within it. But what 
are the facts which called for that Protest ? Have not three Amer- 
ican v ssels, while engaged in a lawful trade been captured, and 
their cargoes forcibly and illegally taken out of them and imme* 



PAPERS. 



21 



diately appropriated to the use of the captors ; have not their offi- 
cers and crews, American citizens, been violently arrested and im. 
prisoned ; has not a part of them been sent to a foreign land and 
there thrown upon the bounty of strangers ; while another part has 
been abandoned upon the distant and desolate Island of " Staten 
Land," without a supply of provisions, and this U,o by a person 
holding his authority under, and now protected by this Govern- 
ment, with which that of the United States is at peace ; and has 
this not been done without any previous official notice having been 
given to the latter that the foimer had set up claims of sovereignty 
and exclusive jurisdiction to the Islands and fisheries in question ? 

And is it under circumstances like these, that the undersigned is 
told he shall not be heard in defence of the injured rights and inter- 
ests of his fellow citizens 1 

Responsible only to his own Government for his official conduct, 
he expects the full and free exercise of his public functions as Consul 
of the United States, so long as he shall continue within the line of 
his duty, and to observe a due courtesy and respect towards the 
Government near which he resides. Having nothing further to 
add in the present stage of this business, the undersigned will con- 
tent himself by referring the whole matter to the consideration of 
his Government. 

The undersigned avails himself of this occasion to renew to His 
Excellency the Minister, the assurances of his most distinguished 
consideration and respect. 

GEO. W. SLACUM. 

His Excellency, 

The Minister for Foreign Affairs. 



2V 



PAPERS. 




[ No. XIII. ] 



(translation.) 



TO THE CONSUL OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Department of Foreign Relations, 
Buenos-Ayres, Febuary 14, 1832. 




The undersigned, Minister of Foreign Relations, addresses Mr. 
George W. Slacum, Consul of the U. S. in this city, for the pur- 
pose of acquainting him, that the Government considering the aber- 
ration of ideas and irregularity of language in his official notes, 
relative to the ocurrences with the American fishing vessels on 
the coasts of the Malvinas, belonging to and in possessiou of this 
Republic, and the prejudices his conduct has given rise to, espe- 
cially since the aggression perpetrated by the Commander of the 
U. S. Ship Lexington, at said Islands; and tha tthe strong excitement 
which that violence has produced, reqnires the careful removal of 
every thing that can directly or indirectly sour the public mind, 
and disturb the moderation and temperance with which affairs be- 
tween civilized and friendly Governments ought always to be con- 
ducted ; has judged it expedient and conducive to those ends, to 
suspend all official intercourse with Mr. Slacum, who can appoint 
any person properly qualified to substitute him in his consular 
functions ; of which resolution due notice is given to the Govern- 
ment of the U. S*, who will doubtless be satisfied, as well with the 
object, as the motives which produce it. 

The undersigned salutes the Consul of the U. S., with due atten- 



tion. 



MANUEL J. GARCIA. 



PAPERS- 




[ No. XIV. ] 

(translation.) 

THE DELEGATE GOVERNMENT OF THE PROVINCE 
TO THE PEOPLE. 

Fellow Citizens ! 

The official details collected by the Government, have con- 
firmed the truth of the scandalous acts, stated to have been com- 
mitted in the Malvinas. The Commander of the U. S. Ship Lex- 
ington has invaded, in a time of the most profound peace, that, our 
infant colony ; destroyed with rancorous fury the public property, 
and carried otf the effects legally deposited there at the disposal of 
our Magistrates. The colonists being unexpectedly assaulted un- 
der a friendly flag, some of them fled to the interior of the island ; 
and others, violently torn from their homes, or deluded by deceitful 
artifices, have been brought away and cast clandestinely upon the 
shores of the Oriental State, which now extends to them a generous 
hospitality ; whilst others, natives and fellow-countrymen of ours, 
are conducted as prisoners to the U. S. for the ostensible purpose 
of being tried there. The unanimous burst of indignation which 
this outrage has produced in you, is fully justified ; and the same 
feeling will doubtless be evinced by men of honor in every part of 
the world, when they hear of this transaction. 

But, citizens, it is as impossible that the Government of Washing- 
ton should approve of such aggressions, as that your Government 
should tolerate them in silence. The former, acting up to the prin- 
ciples of moderation and justice which characterize it, will doubtless 
give satisfaction correspondent to the dignity of the two Republics. 
In the mean time, be assured that, whatever may be the issue of 
these unpleasant ocurrences, your Government will mantain the 
inviolability of the persons and property of North American citi- 
zens, with the same firmness as it will support its own rights, and 
in no case will stain itself with an ignoble reprisal upon innocent 
men who are under the safeguard of the national honor. 

JUAN RAMON BALCARCE. 
MANUEL J. GARCIA. 
Buenos Ayres, 14th February, 1832. 

4 



94 



PAPERS* 




I No. XT. ] 



(copy.) 

Consulate of the United States of America, > 
Buenos Ayres, 15th February, 1831. $ 

The undersigned, Consul of the U. S., has the honor to transmit 
to H. E. the Minister of Foreign Affairs copy of a note this mo- 
ment received from the Commander of the U. S. Ship Lexington, 
who writes to the undersigned that he will await an answer from 
him being on the eve of sailing for Rio de Janeiro. 

The undersigned has the honor to salute H. E. the Minister of 
Foreign Affairs with his most distinguished consideration and re- 
spect. 

GEO. W. SLACUS/L 

His Excellency, 

The Minister of Foreign Affairs* 
&c. &c. &c. 



(copy.) 

U. S. Ship Lexington, > 
Off Montevideo, Febuary 11th, 1832. $ 

Sir: 

I have to state that I will deliver up or liberate the prisoners 
now on board the Lexington, upon an assurance from the Govern- 
ment of Buenos Ayres that they have been acting by its authority. 
I have the honor to be very respectfully, Sir, 

Your obedient servant, 

(Signed) S. DUNCAN, 
Commanding U. S. Ship Lexington. 

Geo. W. Slacum, Esqr., 
tf. S. Consul, 
Buenos Ayres, 



PAPERS, 2$ 




i Wo. XVI. ] 



(translation.) 

Department op Foreign Relations, } 
Buenos-Ayres, February 15, 1832. $ 

The undersigned, Minister of Foreign Relations, has received 
the note of Mr. George W. Slacum, dated this day, transmitting co- 
py of a letter from the Commander of the Ship Lexington, informing 
him that he will liberate the prisioners he has on board, upon an assu- 
ranee from this Government that they have acted under its autho- 
rity. 

The undersigned in reply to Mr. Slacum, begs to state that Mr. 
"Vernet was appointed Military and Political Commandant of the 
Malvinas, in virtue of the decree of the 1st of June, 1829, publish- 
ed on the 13th of the same month; consequently the said Vernet 
and the individuals serving under him, can only be amenable to 
their own authorities. In the mean tim3, the undersigned salutes 
Mr. Slacum with his usual consideration. 

MANUEL J. GARCIA. 



6 & 



Mr. Geo. W. Slacum. 



26 



PAPERS, 




[ fto. XVII. ] 



(copy.) 

Consulate of the United States of America, 4 
Buenos-Ayres, 16th February, 1832. \ 

The undersigned, Consul of the U. States, has the honor to ac^ 
knowledge the receipt of the note of H. E. the Minister of Foreign 
Affairs, under date of the 14th instant; in which H. E. makes 
known to him " that the Government, considering the irregularity 
of ideas and of language of the official notes of Sr. Consul relative 
to the occurrences with the American fishing vessels on the coasts 
of the Malvina Islands, belonging to, and in possession of this Re- 
public, and the prejudices his conduct has excited, especially since 
the aggression perpetrated by the Commander of the U. S. Ship 
Lexington, at said islands ; and that the lively sensation which that 
violence has produced, requires the diligent removal of every thing 
that can sour minds or disturb the moderation and temperance with 
which affairs between civilized and friendly governments ought 
always to be conducted ; has judged it opportune and conducive to 
those ends, to suspend all official relation with Mr. Slacum, who 
can name, to substitute him in his consular functions, any person 
duly qualified : of w T hich resolution, corresponding notice is given 
to the Government of the United States, which will, no doubt, be 
satisfied, as well with the object as the motives which produce it." 

The undersigned cannot refrain from expressing his surprise at 
so extraordinary a communication ; and, in reply to that part of 
it which has reference to " the remarkable irregularity of ideas and 
of language in his official notes," he would observe, that his cor- 
respondence upon the subject of the captured American fishing ves- 
sels was closed as early as the 15th of December last, in conse- 
quence of the communication under date of 9th of that month from 
H. E. the late Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sefior D. Tomas Ma- 
nuel de Anchorena and the whole matter referred to the conside- 
ration of the Government of the United States, as there declared. 

In further answer to H. E. the Minister, the undersigned cannot 
suppress the astonishment which he feels at the allusion made to 



PAPERS. 



his conduct after the result of the visit of the Lexington to the Falk- 
land Islands was made known ; being entirely ignorant of any thing 
on his part which could possibly call for such intimation ; and in 
the belief that H. E. labored under a remarkable misconception, 
he cannot but regret that H. E. had not been so distinct as to have 
enabled the undersigned to have formed some idea of what was in- 
tended, and to have left room for explanation. 

However, this Government has thought fit to suspend the consu- 
lar functions of the undersigned, and to deprive him of his public 
character; at the same time, to grant him permission to appoint 
some person duly qualified to substitute him in the discharge of 
those functions. 

The undersigned will not allow himself to make any observations 
upon the novelty of this procedure, but will only say that he has 
not received instructions from his own Government to cease his 
consular functions here, nor is; he authorized, in such a case as 
this, to appoint a person in his stead. He can, therefore, only leave 
to this Government the responsibility of the act of his suspension 
and any, and all measures, which it may deem proper to pursue. 

The undersigned avails himself of this occasion to offer to H. E. 
the Minister of Foreign Affairs the assurances of his highest con- 
sideration and respect. 

GEORGE W. SLACUM. 



His Excellency 

Don Manuel J. Garcia, 
Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
&c. &c. &c. 



2£ 



FAPEHS., 




[ K*j XVIII. ] 



(copy.) 

Legation of the United States of Amehica, # 
Buenos-Ayres, June 20th, 1832. § 

The undersigned, Charge d'Affaires from the United States of 
America near the government of Buenos Ayres, has the honor to 
inform His Excellency the Minister of Grace and Justice, charged 
provisionally with the Department of Foreign Affairs, that he has 
been instructed by his government to call the attention of this go- 
vernment to certain transactions of Mr. Lewis Vernet, who claims, 
under a decree of this government, of the date of June 10th, 182&, 
to be " the Military and Civil Governor of the Falkland Islands, 
and all those adjacent to Cape Horn, (including Tierra del Fuego,) 
in the Atlantic Ocean. 

Under color of this decree, on the thirtieth day of July last, 
Gilbert R. Davison, a citizen of the United States and master of a 
vessel called the Harriet, sailing from Stonington, in the State of 
Connecticut, one of the said United States, and owned hy citizens 
of the said States — in a time of profound peace, while pursuing 
lawful commerce and business, was forcibly arrested by a body of 
armed men, acting under the orders of the governor Vernet, who, 
at the same time, arrested his boat's crew, — placed him in close 
confinement, — subsequently seized the Harriet, — forced the crew 
on shore and imprisoned them all, excepting the mate, cook and 
steward. The papers of the Harriet and many articles on board 
were forcibly taken, and a part of the articles were sold by order 
of the governor, without formal condemnation or any legal process 
whatever. 

On the 17th day of August last, captain Carew, a citizen of the 
United States, and master of the schooner Breakwater, also sail- 
ing from Stonington, and owned by citizens of the United States, 
in a time of profound peace, while on lawful business, was, by or- 
der of governor Vernet, arrested and imprisoned at Port Louis, and 
the vessel, which lay at St. Salvador, on the following day was 
forcibly seized, deprived of her papers and detained. She was, 



0 



PAPERS. 



afterwards, recaptured by the crew, who regained their liberty by 
their courage and prowess, and reached their own country in safe- 
ty. The master and four men being left on the islands, were com- 
pelled by the governor to embark in a British vessel, bound to Rio 
Janeiro, in Brazil, against the will of the master, who was anxious 
to proceed to Buenos Ayres in the Harriet. 

On the 19th of August last, captain Stephen Congar, a citizen of 
the United States, commanding the schooner Superior, sailing from 
the city of New- York, in the State of New- York, one of the Uni- 
ted States, belonging to citizens of the said States, was also, in a 
period of profound peace, while engaged in lawful business, arrest*-, 
ed and imprisoned ; and subsequently, this vessel also was forcibly 
seized and the crew imprisoned, by order of governor Vernet, and 
vessel, master and crew were forced into his service under the fol- 
lowing circumstances. While the captains, Davison and Congar, 
were prisoners, closely guarded, the governor, by operating on 
their fears, induced them to enter into an agreement, which) among 
others, contained the following extraordinary provisions : 
: Having arrested and imprisoned them in his capacity of Military 
and Civil Governor, for violating the laws and the sovereignty of 
this Republic— regardless of the high official character in which 
he acted, and the dignity of the government under whose appoint- 
ment he professed to act — instead of bringing them to trial for these 
offences, he endeavored to compel them to enter his service, for 
purposes altogether personal, and to substitute himself forcibly in 
the place of their owners ; and degrading the style and dignity cf 
his high office, by calling himself a Director instead of a Military 
and Civil Governor, and by undertaking to transform himself into 
a merchant ; used his military and civil powers to extort from his 
prisoners a written obligation in the shape of a mercantile con- 
tract, to go with one of their vessels and its crew, beyond his pre- 
tended jurisdiction, through the Straits of Magellan to the western 
coast of South America, for the purpose of taking seals on his 
account ; for which service he afterwards selected the Superior, 
her master and crew. 

In mockery of those usages regarded by all Christia/i nations as 
solemn and sacred, he compelled these American citizens, with 
minds depressed by imprisonment and sufferings, and all their 
prospects of fortune and competency blasted by his oppression, to 
bind themselves by oaths "to do nothing to compromise his inte- 
rests ;" and, in defiance of all legitimate authority and moral and 
patriotic obligations, compelled them also to agree that any devia- 
tion from this compulsory contract should be considered as a "breach 
of faith," and that « no laws should liberate them from the penal- 
ties and forfeitures" which he chose, under these circumstances, to 
impose upon them ; thus attempting to secure his own piratical in- 



PAFEgS* 



terests from the operation of the laws, by oaths of his own devisiiK-% 

Tne schooner Harriet arrived here on the 20th of November 
last, under his charge, and is now detained (as the undersigned 
has been informed,) by virtue of some process emanating from this 
government, and her crew (with the exception of five who had 
been liberated by the governor on their agreement to enter his 
service,) were put on board the aforementioned British vessel, and 
sent, with captain Carew and some of his men, to Rio Janeiro. 

Seven men, being a part of the crew of the Superior, had been 
left, previous to the capture, on Statenland, with provisions for six 
months ; and, in consequence of the detention of that vessel, were 
exposed in that dreary and desolate region to the peril of dying 
from starvation, which would have been inevitable without acci- 
dental succour, inasmuch as captain Congar was restricted, in the 
agreement, to a direct voyage through the Straits of Magellan, to 
the west coast of South America, and a direct return to Port Louis, 
and was obligated to avoid all communication with the sealers, and 
no steps whatever were taken for their relief. 

The governor, Mr. Lewis Veriiet, has endeavored to seduce 
American seamen from their own flag, and to allure all who were 
so base as to renounce their country, into his service, by the pro- 
mise of extravagant wages. 

Wholly regardless of the common rights of humanity, he has 
arrested and imprisoned Isaac S. Waldron, George Lambert, John 
Jones and William Smyley, all citizens of the United States, a 
part of the crew of the schooner Belvilie, of Portland, in the state 
of Maine, commanded by captain Bray ; which vessel was wreck- 
ed on the coast of Tierra del Fuego. 

He also forcibly seized a large number of seal skins, and a large 
quantity of whalebone, then in their possession — sold the stores to 1 
the master of an English vessel, and transported the whalebone to 
Buenos Ayres, and then compelled these friendless, unfortunate, 
shipwrecked, imprisoned mariners, under threats of being sent to 
Buenos Ayres to be tried for their lives as pirates, to sign an agree- 
ment, in behalf of themselves and five shipmates who were then 
on Eagle Island occupied in building a shallop, in which they stipu- 
lated that the shallop, when completed, should be employed in the 
seal fishery on his account, and should wear the flag of this Re- 
public. 

Not satisfied with seizing their property and treating them as 
slaves, he would complete the measure of their humiliation by re- 
ducing these American citizens to a degree of moral debasement as 
low as his own, inasmuch as, in another article of this compulsory 
agreement, after binding them by a mockery of terms " to act in 
every respect in an honorable manner as becomes good men," he 
would have seduced them to the commission of acts of violence 



PAPERS. 



and robbery on their own countrymen, by engaging to share with 
them the profits arising from the plunder of the vessels which the}' 
should capture ! 

In this mode he has compelled individuals belonging to the cap- 
tured American vessels to engage in his service, and in some instan- 
ces to assist in the capture of their own countrymen ; and, in one 
instance, finding an American seaman, by the name of Crawford, 
refractory to his persuasions, heedless of his threats and unsubdued 
by imprisonment, he endeavored to force him into his service by 
depriving him of food — and this wretched seaman would have died 
of hunger, had not relief been administered secretly by Captain 
Davison in defiance of his orders. 

The undersigned would also call the attention of his His Excel- 
lency the Minister of Foreign Affairs to certain declarations of Don 
Luis Vernet, important, as coming from a high functionary of this 
Government, the Military and Civic Governor of an extensive re- 
gion ; and if those declarations are to be considered as indicative 
of the sentiments and views of this Government, there would be 
just cause for apprehending that a project was in contemplation, 
involving the destruction of one of the most important and valuable 
national interests of the United States — the Whale fishery — for he 
declared to Captain Davison, that it was his determination to cap- 
ture all American vessels, including whaling-ships, as well as those 
engaged in catching seals, upon the arrival of an armed schooner, 
for which he had contracted, which was to carry six guns and a 
complement of fifty men. 

The undersigned would also call the attention of His Excellency 
the Minister to another declaration of the Governor, from which an 
inference is fairly to be deduced, that the citizens of the United 
States were to be selected as the special victims of his power ; while 
the vessels and seamen of other nations were to be unmolested — 
inasmuch as, when he was told that the crew of the Adeona, a Bri- 
tish vessel, had taken many seals on the Islands, and some even on 
the Volunteer Rocks, at the mouth of the Sound on^which his Esta- 
blishment was placed — his reply was, " that he could not take an 
English vessel with the same propriety that he could an American.'* 

It may sometimes happen that nations may mistake their rights, 
and may attempt to establish sovereign jurisdiction over unoccupied 
territories not clearly their own, and to which their title may be 
disputed, — and other nations, whose rights may be affected in con- 
sequence of such assumptions,arc not necessarily obliged — perhaps, 
in the first instance — to regard acts enforcing such jurisdiction, as 
intrinsically and absolutely hostile, if their operation is equal and 
indiscriminate : — but, if the citizens or subjects of one nation, only, 
are subjected to penalties and punishments for violations of sovereign 
jurisdiction so assumed, while the subjects or citizens of other 



PAPERS. 



nations, committing the same violations, are unmolested — such par- 
tial selection is evidence of hostile feeling, at least, in the officer to 
whom the authority to punish is delegated — and the Government 
which justifies an officer who thus favors and spares the one, and pu- 
nishes the other, when both are in pari delictu, must be considered as 
avowing a preference,injurious and hostile to the nation which suffers. 

The undersigned would also call the attention of His Excellency 
the Minister of Foreign Affairs to the period when the Governor 
began to capture American vessels and American citizens. — The 
Decree from which he pretends to derive his authority, bears the 
date of tenth of June, 1829, and it remained a dead letter, as to the 
North Americans, until the thirtieth day of July, 1831, more than 
two years from its date. It is a matter of public notoriety that the 
late Charge d' Affaires of the United States near this Government, 
died in this city on the fourteenth day of June, 1831. When it was 
ascertained at the Falkland Islands that the American Representa- 
tive was dead, this system of depredation on American property, 
and of outrage and violence on American citizens, was commenced. 
It seems evident to the undersigned, that the Governor was well 
convinced that such atrocities, if perpetrated previous to the death 
of the American Representative, must have roused him from his 
apathy, insensible, as he was, to the importance of this Decree, 
which has wrought so much mischief to his countiymen, and of 
which his Government, to this day, have not been officially informed. 

The Governor must have known (for he has resided many years 
in the United States, and is well acquainted with their institutions 
and laws, and with the temper and disposition of the people) that no 
distance could smother the voice of just complaint, when uttered by 
American seamen : that it would have been heard, even from this 
remote region, by a Government never deaf to their entreaties for 
protection — never insensible to their wrongs and injuries — and that 
its echo would have traversed back the wide expanse of the ocean 
waters, which roll between the two hemispheres : he must have 
known that the American Representative here, would have been 
compelled to have told this Government these solemn truths — that 
the flag of the United States must be respected, whether floating 
beneath the constellations of the North or the South — that the 
wrongs of every American citizen must be redressed — and that cer- 
tain vital national interests, amongst which is, the right of free fish- 
ery, can never be abandoned. Sensible of this, the Governor chose 
a time for the exercise of his power in acts of despotism, when no 
high diplomatic functionary was here to advocate and protect the 
interests and the rights of his countrymen — and remained unchecked 
and uncontrolled, until an American naval Commander was found, 
of sufficient energy and patriotism, to defend and protect those 
rights, on his own responsibility. 



PAPBK9. 



3 a 



But had the Governor, in the exercise of his authority, confined 
himself merely to the capture of American vessels, and to the in- 
stitution of processes before the regular tribunals which administer 
the laws in this country, with the sole view of ascertaining whether 
transgressions against the laws and the sovereignty of this Repub- 
lic had, or had not, been committed, and had he so done in strict 
pursuance of his delegated authority — yet, in the view of the Go- 
vernment of the United States, even an exercise of authority thus 
limited, would have been an ; essential violation of their maritime 
rights ; and the undersigned is instructed and authorized to say, — 
that ihey utterly deny the existence of any right in this Republic to 
interrupt, molest, detain or capture any vessels belonging to citizens 
of the United States of America, or any persons being citizens of 
those States, engaged in taking seals, or whales, or any species of 
fish or marine animals, in any of the waters, or on any of the shores 
or lands of any, or either, of the Falkland Islands, Terra del Fuego, 
Cape Horn, or any of the adjacent islands in the Atlantic Ocean. 

In consequence of these repeated outrages on American property 
and American citizens, it has become the solemn and imperative, 
but unpleasant duty of the undersigned, as the Representative of the 
United States of America, to demand in their behalf, a restitution 
of all captured property belonging to citizens of the United States, 
now in the possession of this Government, or in the possession of Don 
Luis Vernet, claiming under its appointment to be the Military and 
Civic Governor of the Falkland Islands, Terra del Fuego and all 
the islands in the Atlantic Ocean adjacent Cape Horn — and ample 
indemnity for all other property of American citizens which has 
been seized, sold or destroyed by said Vernet, or persons acting 
under his orders ; and full and ample immunity and reparation for 
all consequential injuries and damages arising therefrom, and full 
indemnity to all American citizens for personal wrongs — whether 
from detention, imprisonment, or personal indignities. 

The undersigned would also call the attention of His Excellency 
the Minister of Foreign Affairs, to the case of the American Consul, 
whose functions have been suspended by this Government — not with 
a view to make any specifiic demand, because on this subject, he is 
not, as yet, specially instructed — but merely to suggest to His Ex- 
cellency, that the Government of the United States, (in his opinion) 
if they do not view this act as absolutely hostile, (which he will not 
venture to affirm they do not,) yet they must consider it as evidence 
of unfriendly feelings. The undersigned can find nothing in the 
conduct of the Consul (so far as he undersiands it) which will justify 
this Government in taking a step so strong and decisive as that of 
his suspension. Presenting his exceptionable acts to the considera- 
tion of his own Government, would have been the more expedient 
and friendly mode to obtain redress ; inasmuch as, that Government 



34 



have always respected the feelings of the people among whom their 
Consuls reside. 

The undersigned would, with much resp« ct, suggest for the con- 
sideration of His Excellency, the propriety o removing the obstacles 
which impede the exercise of the Consular f notions of Mr. Slacum, 
until the views of the Government of the t uited States respecting 
this question, can be ascertained. 

The undersigned takes this occasion to proffer to His Excellency 
the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the assurances of his high respect 
and consideration. 

FRANCIS BAYLIES. 



To His Excellency 

Senor Dr. D. Manuel Vicente de Maza : 
Minister of Grace and Justice, 
Charged provisionally with the 
Department, of Foreign Affairs. 



PAPERS. 




t No. XIX. ] 

[translation.] 

TO THE CHARGE D'AFFAIRES OF THE U. STATES OF 
AMERICA. 

Buenos-Ayres, June 25th, 1832. 

The undersigned, Minister of Grace and Justice, charged provi- 
sionally with the Department of Foreign Relations, has received 
and placed before His Excellency the Governor and Captain Gen- 
eral of this Province, the note of the Charge d'Affaires of the U. S. 
of America, dated the 20th inst., complaining of the proceedings of 
Mr. Louis Vernet in the Malvinas, and making statements, of a 
nature so serious and strange, that they require the most attentive 
consideration of the Supreme Authority of this country. To the end, 
therefore, of inquiring into the complaints which the Charge d'Af- 
faires prefers against the said Vernet, and prior to answering the 
several points comprised in his note, His Excellency has this day 
resolved that explanations be required from Mr. Louis Vernet, upon 
all and every one of those relative to his public conduct in the cases 
which rest upon his responsibility. On view of them, and after the 
Government shall have formed its opinion, as well from the facts 
which Mr. Vernet may set forth, as from those on which the Charge 
d'Affaires grounds his claim, His Excellency will discharge his duty 
without attempting to impair the individual rights of the citizens of 
the U.S., who may prove to have been aggrieved or injured, and 
likewise without sacrificing to exorbitant pretensions the rights of 
Mr. Louis Vernet, nor the public ones, which by the common law 
of nations, belong to the Argentine Republic, as a sovereign and 
independent State. 

The undersigned, on acquainting the Charge d'Affaires of the 
U. S. with the measure adopted by His Excellency, has the honor 
to salute him with his most distinguished consideration and esteem. 



MANUEL VICENTE DE MAZ4. 



PAPERS. 




[ No. XX. ] 



(copy.) 

Legation of the United States of America, > 
Buenos-Ayres, June 26th, 1832. $ 

The undersigned Charge d' Affaires from the United States of 
America, has the honor to acknowledge to his Excellency thj Mi- 
nister of Grace and Justice, charged provisionally with the Depart- 
ment of Foreign Affairs, the receipt of his note of yesterday, from 
which he learns that his communication of the 20th has beei* 
received. 

He learns also with much pleasure that the communication above 
mentioned has been placed in the hands of His Excellency the Go- 
vernor and Captain General of this Province, as he is well persuaded 
from the high character which His Excellency the Governor uni- 
versally sustains for wisdom and justice, that, when satisfied of the 
existence of wrong, he will never withold redress. 

His Excellency the Minister says that the complaints which the 
undersigned as the organ of his Government has addressed to him 
are serious ; — they are so, for they are preferred in behalf of Ame- 
rican citizens to obtain redress for aggravated injuries. His Ex- 
cellency also says that they are strange — as to this also, the under- 
signed has the honor to entertain a similar opinion, inasmuch, as 
nothing can be more strange to the Government and people of the 
United States than that outrages and violences should have been 
committed upon the persons and property of their citizens, in a time 
of profound peace, under the sanction of the Government of Buenos 
Ayres. 

His Excellency has also been pleased to inform the undersigned 
that explanations would be asked of Don Luis Vernet : the under- 
signed will take the liberty to say that as to the substantive matter 
of the complaint no further explanations are necessary, inasmuch 
as Don Luis Vernet has admitted in the public newspapers of this 
city under his own signature that he has captured American ves- 
sels, which admissions cannot be unknown to His Excellency ;— 
neither can it be unknown to him, that the schooner Harriet owned. 



PAPERS. 



by citizens of the United States and captured by the said Vernet 
is now detained in this Port by virtue of a process issued by some 
tribunal within the jurisdiction of this Government. 

The aggravations with which these injuries on the persons and 
property of American citizens were accompanied, cannot affect the 
principle assumed by the Government of the United States, but are 
important only in ascertaining the measure and magnitude of those 
injuries — inasmuch as the Government of the United States not only 
deny any right in the said Vernet to capture and detain the pro- 
perty or the persons of their citizens engaged in fishing at the 
Falkland Islands, Terra del Fuego, Cape Horn or any of the adja- 
cent islands in the Atlantic Oceans — but also any right or authority 
in the Government of Buenos Ayres so to do. 

His Excellency has been pleased to say that " the public rights 
which, by the common law of nations belong to the Argentine Re- 
public as a sovereign and independent State, he will not pretend to 
sacrifice :" — to this the undersigned can only say that the Govern- 
ment which he represents has neither the intention or the disposition 
to bring into question any of the rights of the Argentine Republic—- 
but they wish to know distinctly from this Government whether they 
claim, on their part, any right or authority to detain or capture, or 
in any way to molest, interrupt, oj impede the vessels or the citizens 
of the United States while engaged in fishing in the waters or on 
the shores of the Falkland Islands and the other places already 
mentioned. 

The undersigned also takes the liberty to express to His Excel- 
lency the Minister the hope that this inquiry may be answered as 
speedily as his convenience will permit, — and he has the honor to 
assure him that he is with sentimeuts of exalted respect and high 
consideration 

His obedient servant, 

FRANCIS BAYLIES. 

His Excellency 

Sefior Dr. Don Manuel V. de Maza, 
Minister of Grace and Justice, 
Charged provisionally with the 
Department of Foreign Affairs. 



PAPERS, 




[ Wo. XXI. 3 

(copy.) 

Legation of the United States of America, } 
Buenos-Ayres, July 10th, 1832. \ 

The imdersigned,Charge d'Affaires from the U.S. of Ameriac near 
this Government, has the honor to inform His Excellency the Mi- 
nister of Grace and Justice, charged provisionally with the Depart- 
ment of Foreign Affairs, that he has received no answer to the inquiry 
which he had the honor to submit to him, in his communication of 
tne 26th ultimo, and which was of the following purport — that his 
Government wished to know, distinctly, from this Government, 
whether it claimed, on its part, any right or authority to detain or 
capture, or in any way to molest, interrupt or impede the vessels 
or the citizens of the United States of America, while engaged in 
fishing in the waters or on the shores of the Falkland Islands and 
the other places included in the decree of June 10th, 1829. 

It appeared to the undersigned that no deliberation was necessary 
to enable the Government of this Republic to answer this plain 
question ; and, therefore, he expressed the hope that the reply might 
be speedy. But, inasmuch as several days have elapsed since it was 
made, he must take it for granted that the inquiry was considered 
futile by His Excellency — as the fact inquired of was of common 
notoriety ; inasmuch as, the rights claimed by the Argentine Repub- 
lic had been asserted in the Decree of June 10th, 1829, and in the 
correspondence between D. Tomas Manuel de Anchorena, formerly 
Minister of Foreign Affairs, and George W. Slacum, Esqr., Consul 
of the United States, — that Minister having, in his communication 
to Mr. Slacum, of date December 3d, 1831, denied the right of the 
United States to the fisheries in question; while he asserted the. 
rights claimed by this Republic to be " unquestionable," — and also 
having, in a communication to the Consul subsequently made (viz. 
on the 9th of the same December) expressed the wish of his Go- 
vernment, that the Consul would refrain " from persisting in the 
protest which he had made against rights which had been,and were, 
in possession of this Government, and which (said the Minister) un- 



PAPEHS. 



89 



til this time, nobody has questioned," — and inasmuch as, in a pro- 
clamation issued by the Delegate Government on the 14th. of Fe- 
buary last, the Falkland Islands are claimed as a "colony" of this 
Province, — and, in a circular issued by the same Delegate Govern- 
ment to the Provinces, Don Luis Vernet is styled the Political and 
Military Governor of the Falkland Islands, &c, — and inasmuch as, 
this Government now detains the American schooner Harriet, cap- 
tured by virtue of this assumed power. 

The Decree of June 10th, 1829 — the Proclamation of Febuary 
14th, 18 32, and the Circular to the Provinces, and the process against 
the schooner Harriet, have never been communicated officially to 
the American Government or to their Representative here ; and, 
although the same right was asserted, in behalf of this Government, 
by their Minister of Foreign Affairs, in the correspondence with Mr. 
Slacum, the American Consul ; yet, as the Diplomatic character of 
that Gentleman was positively denied, and as he was subsequently 
suspended from his office by this Government — whatever was asser- 
ted in that correspondence, is not perhaps to be considered of a 
character as solemn as that of direct assertions of this right, made 
to an accredited Representative of the American Government here. 

Therefore, the undersigned felt some solicitude to obtain an 
avowal of this claim, from a Minister of this Government, made 
distinctly to himself, as the accredited Representative of the United 
States. 

But, as His Excellency has not, as yet, condescended to reply to 
the enquiry — the undersigned thinks himself justified in the pre- 
sumption that the power and authority described in his application, 
arc assumed by this Government. And, acting on this presumption, 
he will proceed to lay before His Excellency the views which his 
Government have taken of this question — and to present some facts, 
having relation to the question in issue, for the consideration of His 
Excellency, which he sincerely hopes may produce a happy termi- 
nation of this unpleasant controversy. 

To simplify the investigation upon which the undersigned proposes 
to enter, he will, in the commencement, take the liberty to state the 

7estion in this manner :- 
The Argentine Republic claims sovereignty and jurisdiction over 
the Falkland Islands, Tierra del Fuego, Cape Horn and the islands 
adjacent in the Atlantic Ocean, by virtue of having succeeded to 
t-he sovereign rights of Spain over those regions. 

As these sovereign rights thus claimed are altogether derivative 
from Spain — the first enquiry naturally divides itself into two 
branches :- 

1st. Had Spain any sovereign rights over the abovementioned 
places ? 

2d. Did the Argentine Republic succeed to those rights ? 



PAPEHS, 



If it can be shewn that Spain had no such rights, the question is 
terminated ; unless the Argentine Republic should abandon all title 
under Spain, and claim an absolute vested sovereignty, original in 
itself. 

If it be shewn affirmatively, that Spain had such rights, then it 
must be as clearly shewn that the Argentine Republic succeeded to 
them ; and if that can be shewn, then it must also be shewn that 
the Argentine Republic had authority to capture and detain Ameri- 
can vessels and American citizens engaged in the fisheries at those 
places, without notifying the American Government or its Repre- 
sentative here, officially, of such assumptions and such claims. 

It must be premised, that the United States of America claim no 
sovereign jurisdiction or exclusive priveleges over the water or the 
soil of these regions. They only claim such privileges as they have 
been accustomed to exercise in common with other maritime nations. 

Civilized nations have claimed title to countries unihabited, or in- 
habited only by savage aboriginals, in three modes 

1. By prior discovery, 

2. By taking formal possession of such countries. 

3. By prior occupation. 

It bas sometimes been contended that the first sight of countries 
never before seen by civilized and christian people, give to the na- 
tion by whose subjects such discovery was made, a preferable title - 9 
but it does not seem altogether reasonable that the discovery of a 
new region by ignorant marines, in consequence, perhaps, of a 
casual storm, or a trifling accident, should give to their nations a 
solid title to valuable territories. But, when skill and science are 
put in requisition, and expensive expeditions prepared for the purpose, 
of discovery, it would seem just that discoveries consequent on suck, 
enterprises, should be followed by some benefits to the persons by 
whom they were made, and to the nations by whom they were- 
patronized. 

It has also been contended that no title can accrue from mere- 
discovery, unless such discovery be' accompanied by certain formal 
acts, which generally are styled acts of possession. 

Formal possession of uninhabited and wild countries has generally 
been taken by naval officers, and has always been attended with 
many ceremonies and solemnities— amongst which are, landing in 
state, under salutes — raising flags — making inscriptions, and pro- 
claiming formally that possession is taken in behalf of their sove- 
reign or nation. If catholics, crosses are sometimes reared — and, 
sometimes, coins are buried. 

Some nations have admitted rights in the savage aboriginals of 
such countries, and have claimed subsequently, on occupation, what 
may be called a pre-emptive right, that is, the right to extinguish 



the aboriginal title by voluntary agreement, to the exclusion of ail 
other nations. 

Other nations have denied the existence of any right or title to 
territory amongst uncivilized tribes. 

On this point, no question can arise when the regions claimed 
are uninhabited. 

In the discussion which took place in the British Parliament with 
respect to the proceedings of the Spaniards at Nootka-Sound, Mr. 
Fox, who is justly ranked amongst the most illustrious of British 
Statesmen, denied that discovery furnished any ground of title 
whatever ; and rested the British title to Nootka on occupation 
alone. 

Prior occupation, according to the more liberal and rational 
Usages of modern times, is certainly the least impeachable title to 
regions uninhabited, or inhabited only by savages. 

The title founded on occupation may be strengthened, however, 
by the collateral circumstances of prior discovery and the formal 
act of taking possession, especially when there has been an occu- 
pation nearly simultaneous by two nations. A mere temporary 
occupation, without the intention of remaining, neither gives title, 
nor furnishes presumptive evidence of title : — there is scarcely a 
desolate island in this hemisphere, that has not had its temporary 
occupants ; but the occupation must be such as to furnish strong 
presumptive evidence of an intention to abide — and the evidence of 
the intention can hardly be controverted, if the occupation be effec- 
ted in pursuance of the orders of the constituted authorities of a 
nation, and if actual possesion be taken by a military force. 

Such being the general principles which the wisest statesmen 
have adopted, with respect to countries uninhabited, or inhabited 
only by savages ; it is proper , for the elucidation of the questions 
which have arisen between the United States of America and the 
Argentine Republic, touching the Falkland Islands, Cape Horn. 
Tierra del Fuego and the adjacent islands in the Atlantic Ocean, 
fo ascertain, from historical facts, how these principles will apply. 

The undersigned does not pretend to say that Ferdinand MageK 
fan, a subject of the King of Portugal, in the service of Charles V., 
Emperor of Germany and King of Spain, commenced the first voy- 
age of circumnavigation on the 20th of September, 1519, about 
twenty seven years after the discovery of America by Columbus. 
Unfortunately, he did not live to complete it — having been killed at 
the Ladrones, in 1521. In October, 1520, he entered the Strait? 
which divide Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego : he was, unques- 
tionably, the first discoverer of the nothern coast of the latter region. 
More fortunate than Columbus, he not only left an enduring name 
to the Strait which he traversed, but he has fixed it eternally in 
the celestial regions of the southern hemisphere. 



PAPEKS. 



In 1527, Groaca de Loaisa, a Knight of Malta, in the service of 
Spain, undertook, with a squadron of seven ships, to follow the 
route of Magellan, and actually passed the Straits ; but all his 
vessels were lost on the voyage, and he, with the remnant of his- 
followers, perished in the East Indies. 

Sebastian Cabot and Americus Vesputius, names of note in Amer- 
ican history, made abortive attempts to pursue the same route — and 
Simon de Alcazara, whose crew, having mutined before he reached 
the Straits, compelled him to return. But the failure of Cabot, a 
name equally to be venerated by North and South America, can 
scarcely be regretted ; inasmuch as, it enabled him to complete the 
discovery of the fine country of the Rio de la Plata, and to explore, 
in several directions, those mighty waters, which flow through re- 
gions of matchless beauty and fertility. 

These repeated failures, disheartened the Spaniards, and they 
gave over all attempts at discovery in this quarter, for many years. 

On the 20th August, 1578, Sir Francis Drake, an Englishman., 
and the first naval Commander who circumnavigated the World^ 
entered the Straits of Magellan and named an island, which he dis- 
covered there, Elizabeth, in honor of his Queen. After leaving the 
Straits, he was driven South by a succession of storms, as far as 
latitude 55°, where he discovered a cluster of islands, anchored and 
spent some days on shore. Leaving these islands, he was assailed 
by another violent storm, and was driven farther South, even beyond 
the 57th degree, " were (says the writer of his voyage) we beheld 
the extremities of the American coast, and the confluence of the At- 
lantic and Southern Oceans." This was on the 28th of October,1578. 

From these notices it would appear that the northern coast of 
Tierra del Fuego was first discoved by Magellan, when in the ser- 
vice of Spain ; and the South-western coast and some Islands in 
that direction by Sir Francis Drake, in the service of England — 
who probably discovered the southern extremity of the American 
Continent, now called Cape Horn. 

So little was known, of the southern and eastern coast of 
Tierra del Fuego as late as the year 1774, that Cook, the greatest 
of English navigators, while on his second voyage, when actually 
in sight of Cape Horn, could not ascertain whether it formed a part 
of that groat island, or whether it was a part of a smaller detached 
island. Cook, however, by exploring the eastern and southern 
coasts of Tierra del Fuego, and laying down with mathematical and 
geographical accuracy, their several headlands, bays and harbors, 
deserves the credit of an original discoverer ; as he unquestionably 
brought many things to light which was not known before. 

The undersigned cannot discover from any evidence within his 
command, that any nation has ever taken formal possession of 
Tierra del Fuego or any of the islands adjacent — or attempted f <- 



PAPERS. 



4^ 



establish any settlements within their territories, or occupied them in 
any way. The savage aboriginals of those inhabited, have always 
remained without interruption or molestation ; and without having 
been required to yield even a nominal obedience or allegiance to 
any sovereign or nation whatever. 

Although it is highly probable that Sir Francis Drake was the 
original discoverer of Cape Horn and the Island of which it forms 
the extremity — yet, that discovery has generally been assigned to 
Jacob Le Maire, a Dutchman, in the service of the States of Holland, 
who,' in 1616, rediscovered that which Drake had discovered before, 
perhaps, and left the name of Hoorn (now corrupted to Horn) 
attached to the Cape, in honor of the town of that name in Holland. 
Le Maire was the first European navigator who, by finding a pas- 
sage into the Pacific Ocean round this terminus of South America, 
thereby enabling navigators to avoid the difficult and dangerous 
passage through the Strait of Magellan, has almost rivalled De 
Gama, who converted the Cape of Storms into the Cape of Good 
Hope, when the way was opened to those magnificent oriental 
regions, which, for so long a period, have poured their riches into 
the lap of Europe. — It is immaterial, so far as respects rights resul- 
ting from original discovery, whether this Cape or the Island of 
which it is a part, was first seen by Sir Francis Drake, the English- 
man, or Jacob Le Maire, the Dutchman — the honor of the discovery 
was never claimed by Spain : — the discovery was followed neither 
by possession or occupation, and the natives still retain undisputed 
dominion over this wintry and storm-beaten region. 

To the Strait between Tierra del Fuego and Staten-land, Le 
Maire has attached his name ; but Statenland — still desolate and 
uninhabited — serves only to remind us of the ancient enterprise of 
ill-fated Holland. 

It has been asserted, with confidence, that the first European who 
placed his eyes on the Falkland Islands, was Davies, an Englishman 
and an associate of Cavendish, in his voyage to the South Seas, in 
1592, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Driven by storms 
within view of them, so imperfect was the discovery that he left not 
even the frail memory of a name. 

In 1594, Sir Richard Hawkins, an English Adniiral,in the service 
of Queen Elizabeth, saw these islands, and, in honor of his mistress 
and himself, called them Hawkins' Maiden-land. 

In 1598, the States of Holland despatched a squadron to the South 
•Seas under the command of Admiral Verhagen and Sebald de Wert. 
These islands were seen by the squadron and named Sebald Islands, 
under which appellation they appear in many ancient charts — and 
.this, or a name so similar as to indentify them, was retained until 
the year 1683 ; for William Dampier, a celebrated English seaman, 
in the fourth edition of the relation of his voyages, published in 



44 PAPERS. 

London 1699, says that on the 28th of January, 1683, u we made 
the Sibbel de Wards, which are three islands lying in the latitude 
of 51d. 35m. South, and longitude West from the Lizard in Eng- 
land, by my account, 57d. 28m." — " These islands of Sibbel de 
Wards were so named by the Dutch." In the map prefixed to this- 
edition of Kis voyages, these islands, which, from their position, 
must be the Falklands, are called Sibbel de Wards. 

The name of Falkland, it is said, was first bestowed on these 
islands by an English navigator, Captain Strong, in 1689. 

This name was subsequently adopted by all the English geogra- 
phers and men of science, particularly by Dr. Halley. The journal 
of Strong yet exists, unprinted, in the British Museum. 

Between the years 1700 and 1708, many French ships from St. 
MaJoes, sailed into the South Seas. By some of them these islands- 
were discovered and the French name of Malouines was attached 
to them — which name the Spaniards have adopted. 

The French claimed the honor of having made the original dis- 
covery ; but Frezier, a French author, whose relation of a voyage 
to the South Sea was published at Paris in 1716, admits that " ces 
isles sont sans doute les mfrmes que celles que le chevalier Richard, 
Hawkins decouvrit en 1593," and his admission has been adopted 
by Malte-Brun, his countryman, the inimitable geographer of 
modern times. 

There is not, on the part of Spain, the slighest pretence of having 
made the original discovery of these islands. Spain, indeed, does 
not pretend to have made it — but has adopted even the French name. 

In the year 1764, a squadron was ordered to the South Seas by 
the King of Great Britain, George the III., which squadron was 
placed under the command of Commodore the Honorable John 
Byron, an illustrious name in the naval annals of Great Britain. 
What follows is extracted from his instructions, dated June 17thj 
1764, " and whereas His Majesty's Islands, called Pepy's Island 
and Falkland Islands, lying within the said track," (i. e. the track 
between the Cape of Good Hope and the Straits of Magellan) 
" notwithstanding their having been first discovered and visited by 
British navigators, have never yet been so sufficiently surveyed 
as that an accurate judgment may be formed of their coasts and 
product, His Majesty, taking the premises into consideration, and 
conceiving no junction so proper for enterprises of this nature as 
a time of profound peace, which his kingdoms at present happily 
enjoy, has thought fit that it should now be undertaken." 

On the 2.3d January, 1765, Commodore Byron went on shore at 
these Islands, with the Captains and principal officers of his squad* 
ron, " where the Union Jack being erected on a high staff and 
spread, the Commodore took possession of the harbor and all the 
neighboring islands for His Majesty King George III., his heirs 



- 



PAPERS. 



45 



and successors, by the name of Falkland's Islands. When the 
colors were spread, a salute was fired from the ship." 

Possession was thus taken, with all the usual formalities in the 
name of the King of Great Britain. 

On the 8th of January, 1766, Captain MacBride arrived at Port 
Egmont with a military force — erected a block-house and stationed 
a garrison. No traces of former habitations, cultivation or people 
were perceived, but the English made some attempts to cultivate ; 
and, as their was no native wood, several thousand young trees, 
with the mould about their roots,were transported from Port-Famine 
Bay, in one of the ships of Commodore Wallis' squadron, for the 
porpose of being re-set at the Falklands. 

All this' was done by the command of the King of Great Britain ; 
and, as to all consequent rights, the occupation was complete. 

It is true, that is said that 6ome Frenchmen had made a tempora- 
ry establishment on one of the Falkland Islands, about this period ; 
and that, in consequence of a remonstrance made by Spain, the 
King of France ceded all his right to those islands to His Catholic 
Majesty. If the doctrine assumed by Spain was correct, that France 
had not even a colourable title, the cession was a nullity ; and it is 
a fact that Spain so regarded it, and relied on her prior rights, alone, 
in her subsequent controversy with Great Britain 

On the 10th of June, 1770, a large Spanish force, under the 
command of Admiral Madariaga, dispossessed the British of their 
establishment at Port Egmont, by force. The expedition by which 
this was achieved was put in motion by Buscarelli, the Vice Roy 
of Buenos Ayres. 

At the time of the forcible dispossession, the title of Great Britain 
was, certainly, placed on very strong foundations : she had prior 
discovery, formal possession and actual occupation to urge ; and 
there were no aboriginal rights to be extinguished. 

The act of dispossessien was disavowed by Spain and the terri- 
tory restored by solemn convention : she, however reserved her 
prior rights. The reservation was a nullity ; inasmuch as, she had 
no claim, either by prior discovery — prior possession — prior occu- 
pation, or even the shadow of a name. 

The restoration of Port Egmont and the disavowal of the act by 
which she was temporarily disposssed — after discussion, negotiation 
and solemn agreement — gave to the title of Great Britain more 
stability and strength ; for it was a virtual acknowledgement, on 
tbe part of Spain, of its validity. Great Britain might then have 
occupied and settled all the islands, and fortified every harbor, 
without giving to Spain any just cause of umbrage. 

With her rights again acknowledged — the emblems of sove- 
reignty again reared — and possesion resumed by a military and 



PAPERS. 



naval force, Great Britain voluntarily abandoned these distant 
dominions — taking every possible precaution, when she so did, to 
give evidence to the World, that, though she abandoned, she did 
noft relinquish them. 

It is true, that many years have elapsed since, under these cir- 
cumstances, she ceased to occupy the Falkland Islands. But the 
lapse of time cannot prevent her from resuming possession, if her 
own maxim of law be well founded — nullum tempus ocurrit regi — 
and, that she persists in her claim, is evident, from the following 
Protest, communicated to the undersigned officially by His Excel- 
lency Henry S. Fox — now His Britannic Majesty's Minister Pleni- 
potentiary and Envoy Extraordinary near this Government, and 
which is in the following words :- 

"The undersigned has the honor to inform H. E. the Minister 
of Foreign Affairs that he has communicated to his Court the offi- 
cial document published by the Government of Buenos Ayres on 
the 10th of June last, containing certain provisions for the Govern- 
ment of the Falkland Islands. 

" The undersigned has received the order of his Court to repre- 
sent to H. E. that the Argentine Republip, in issuing this decree, 
have assumed an authority incompatible with His Britannic Majes- 
ty's rights of sovereignty over the Falkland Islands. 

" These rights, founded upon the original discovery and subse- 
quent occupation of the said islands, acquired an additional sanction 
from the restoration, by His Catholic Majesty, of the British settle- 
ment, in the year 1771, which, in the preceeding year, had been 
attacked and occupied by a Spanish force, and which act of violence 
had led to much angry discussion between the Governments of the 
two countries. 

" The withdrawal of His Majesty's forces from these islands, in 
the year 1774, cannot be considered as invalidating His Majesty's 
just rights. That measure took place in pursuance of a system of 
retrenchment, adopted at that time by His Britannic Majesty's 
Government ; but the marks and signals of possession and property 
were left upon the islands : when the Governor took his departure, 
the British flag remained flying, and all those formalities were 
observed which indicated the rights of ownership, as well as an 
intention to resume the occupation of the territory, at a more 
convenient season. 

" The undersigned, therefore, in execution of the instructions of 
his Court, formally protests, in the name of His Britannic Majesty, 
against the pretensions set up by the Government of Buenos Ayres, 
in their Decree of the 10th of June, and against all acts which have 
been, or may hereafter be done, to the prejudice of the just rights 



PAPEHo. 



4 C , 



of sovereignty which have heretofore been exercised by the Crown 
of Great Britain." 

" The undersigned, &c. — 

(Signed) " Woodbine Parish. " 
"Buenos Ayres, November 19th, 1829." [*] 

Although His Excellency Don Tomas Manuel de Anchorena, 
formerly Minister of Foreign Affairs, has assented, in his commu- 
nication to the American Consul, of date December 9th, 1831, that, 
until then, nobody had questioned the rights of this Government ; 
yet, the Minister of Foreign Affairs must, certainly, have overlooked 
the Protest above-recited ; for the undersigned has in his hands a 
copy of the official acknowledgement of of its receipt, by His Excel- 
lency Don Tomas Guido, formerly Minister of Foreign Affairs ; 
which copy has also been communicated to him officially by His 
Excellency the British Envoy. 

After a dispassionate view of these historical facts, can it be 
contended that Spain, whose claim of title is restricted to the prior 
discovery of the northen coast of Tierra del Fuego — a discovery 
made more than three hundred years ago, followed neither by the 
formal acts of possession or actual occupation — who has always 
left that region of desolation as she found it, in the possession of its 
miserable aboriginals — could have had the slightest justification for 
attempting to exclude the citizens of the United States of America 
from the rights of free fisheries in all these Island-regions ? Spain 
did not attempt it ; and although she has captured hundreds of 
American vessels and an amount of property for which she after- 
wards remunerated the United States, by paying to their citizens 
the sum of Five Millions of Spanish dollars, it is not now recollected 
that a single whale-ship or sealing vessel, was amongst those 
captures. 



[*] (To this protest the following answer was returned.) 

Buenos Ayres, November 25rh, 1829. 

The undersigned, Minister of Foreign Relations, has received and 
placed before his Government, the communication which Woodbine Pa- 
rish, Esqr., H. B M. Charge d' Affaires, nan been pleased to address him, 
under date of the 19th msr., remonstrating against the decree issued on 
the 10th of June of the present year, whereby a Political and Military 
Commandant of Malvinas was appointed. 

The Government intends to give an attentive consideration to the note 
of Mr. Parish, and the undersigned will be happy to communicate him its 
resolution, as soon as he shall receive orders so to do. 

The undersigned has the honor to salute Mr. Parish with his highest 
'j&teem. 

TOMAS GUIDO. 

To H. I?. M. Charge d» Affaires. 



\ 

48 i'APEEjlt 

Can this Republic, then, claiming no original title or rights, but 
such, only, as are derivative, and which are derived altogether 
from Spain — assume any higher titles than those which Spain her- 
self assumed ? — and Spain, certainly, never assumed any right to 
capture or detain American vessels or American citizens engaged 
in the fisheries at the places above mentioned. 

And to shew that Spain had excluded herself from exercising any 
high rights of sovereignty, by voluntary compact — the undersigned 
would call the attention of His Excellency to the sixth article of 
the Convention concluded between His Catholic Majesty and the 
King of Great Britain, at San Lorenzo el Real, October 28th, 1790, 
and ratified on the 22d of November following ; and which is in 
the following words :- 

" It is further agreed, also, that, as it respects the Eastern as 
well as the Western coasts of South America and the adjacent 
islands, that the respective subjects of the two Powers shall not 
form, in future, any settlements in any part of these coasts^ situated 
to the South of the coasts and of the islands adjacent thereto, already 
occupied by Spain— it being well understood, that the respective 
subjects of the two nations shall have the power to land on the 
coasts and islands so situated, for the purpose of fishing, and to build 
cabins and other temporary works that may serve solely for these 
objects." 

The undersigned presumes that it will not be contended that any 
settlements then existed at any of the places included in the decree 
of the tenth of June, 1829 ; and, by this article, Spain and Great 
Britain both restricted themselves from forming any settlements there. 

Can it be supposed that Spain, a nation jealous of her rights and 
sovereignty, and peculiarly sensitive on the subject of her South 
American dominions, would have virtually abandoned her sovereign 
rights over these wide regions, if she supposed her title to be well 
founded and free from doubt ? There can be no dispute as to the 
real object of this treaty, which was, to leave an open fishery iu 
these regions. 

But, if it be hypothetically admitted that the full and entire right 
of sovereignty was possessed by Spain — has Spain renounced it? 
Has Spain ever, by any acknowledgement whatever, yielded the 
rights which she once possessed ? Has Spain, as yet, relinquished,, 
by any formal act or acknowledgement, any part of her claim to 
supreme dominion over these islands ? If the rights of Spain are 
dormant, they are not extinct ; and the undersigned has little doubt 
of her ability to mantain her actual rights (if any) over the Falk- 
land Islands : for, although some of the brightest jewels have been 
torn from her crown, she is now a great and powerful nation ; and, 
could her capacities be developed by free and liberal institutions, 
she would soon resume much of her ancient grandeur. 



But again — If the rights of Spain to these islands were undoubt- 
od — and if, again, it be admitted hypothetically, that the ancient 
Vice Royalty of the Rio de la Plata, by virtue of the revolution of 
the 25th of May, 1810, has succeeded in full sovereignty to those 
rights ; would that admission sustain the claim which the Province 
of Buenos Ayres or, in other words, the Argentine Republic, sets 
up to sovereignty and jurisdiction ? 

In May, 1810, a provisional Government was named at Buenos 
Ayres, who deposed the Spanish Vice-Roy and sent him to Spain. 
Against this proceeding, some of the interior provinces and the city 
of Montevideo protested. 

Until the 9th day of July, 1816, Ferdinand VII. was acknow- 
ledged as King at Buenos Ayres, and all official acts were promuL 
gated in his name. During this period, had he assumed the Go- 
vernment of the Falkland Islands, would his sovereign acts, orders 
or appointments have been issued, proclaimed or promulgated in 
his name and by his authority, as King of Spain and the Indies, or 
as King of Buenos Ayres or Rio de la Plata ? Were not the pro. 
ceedings of May, 1810, always received by the King as rebellious? 
In his estimation, was not this effort for liberty an insurrectionary 
movement ; and did he not attempt to restore the ancient dominion 
of Spain over the entire Vice Royalty ? 

Is it not a truth that Paraguay, one of the Provinces of the ancient 
Vice Royalty, has even refused to be united to Buenos Ayres, and 
has always remained a separate and independent Government ? 

The ancient Vice Royalty of the Rio de la Plata is now divided 
between several distinct nations, having no dependency on each 
other — exercising all the powers of sovereignty within their own 
limits, uncontrolled — and, with respect to the Argentine Republic 
<r>r the Province of Buenos Ayres, as entirely foreign and indepen- 
dent, as is the Republic of the United States of America. The un- 
dersigned, therefore asserts, that the Republic of Bolivia — the 
Province of Paraguay, and the Oriental Republic of the Uruguay, 
commonly styled the Banda Oriental — all included formerly in the 
Vice Royalty of the Rio de la Plata, have no political dependent 
connection with the Argentine Republic or the Province of Buenos 
Ayres. 

If, then, the sovereign rights of Spain to those southern islands,, 
descended to the ancient Vice Royalty of the Rio de la Plata, by 
virtue of the revolution — and if that Vice Royalty is now divided 
into several sovereignties, independent of each other ; to which 
one of these several sovereignties shall these rights be assigned % 
Where are the title-deeds of the Argentine Republic ? Where are 
the releases, of the other nations of the Vice Royalty, to Ihr^ 
Bepublic ? 



50 



.PAPERS. 



But again — if it be admitted hypothetical!}' that the Argentine 
Republic did succeed to the entire rights of Spain over these re- 
gions ; and that, when she succeeded, Spain was possessed of sove- 
reign rights — the question is certainly worth examination, whether 
the right to exclude American vessels and American citizens from 
the fisheries there, is incident to such a succession to sovereignty* 

The Ocean fishery is a natural right, which all nations may enjoy 
in common. Every interference with it by a foreign Power, is a 
national wrong. When it is carried on within the marine league 
of the coast which has been designated as the extent of national 
jurisdiction, reason seems to dictate a restriction, if, under pretext 
of carrying on the fishery, an evasion of the revenue laws of the 
country may reasonably be apprehended, or any other serious in- 
jury to the Sovereign of the coast, he has a right to prohibit it ; but, 
as such prohibition derogates from a natural right, the evil to be 
apprehended ought to be a real, not an imaginary one. No such 
evil can be apprehended on a desert and uninhabited coast ; there * 
fore, such coasts form no exception to the common right of fishing 
in the seas adjoining them. All the reasoning on this subject applies 
to the large Bays of the Ocean, the entrance to which cannot be de- 
fended ; and this is the doctrine of Vattel, ch. 23, § 291, who ex- 
pressly cites the Strait of Magellan, as an instance for the application 
of the rule. 

As to the use of the shores, for purposes necessary to the fishery : 
that, depends on other principles. When the right of exclusive 
dominion is undisputed, the Sovereign may with propriety, forbid 
the use of them to any foreign nation, provided such use interferes 
with any that his subjects may make of them ; but where the shore 
is unsettled and deserted, and the use of it, of course, interferes with 
no right of the subjects of the Power to which it belongs, then it 
would be an infringement of the right to the common use of the 
shores as well as of the Ocean itself, which all nations enjoy, by 
the laws of Nature, and which is restricted only by the paramount 
right which the Sovereign of the soil has to its exclusive use, when 
the convenience or interest of his subjects require it ; or when he 
wishes to apply it to public purposes. It is true, that he is the judge 
of this interest, and of the necessity of using it for his public purpo- 
ses — but justice requires, that were, no such pretension can be made* 
the shores, as well as the body of the Ocean ought to be left common 
to all. 

These principles seem to have dictated the articles in the treaties 
between the United States and Great Britain. The third article 
of the Treaty of Peace of 1782, declares that the people of the Uni- 
ted States shall continue to enjoy unmolested, the right to take fish 
on the Grand Banks, &c, and to dry and cure their fish in any of 
the unsettled bays, harbors aud creeks of Nova Scotia, Magellan 



PAPERS. 



51 



Islands and Labrador, so long as the same shall remain unsettled ; 
but that, when settlements are made there, they cannot enjoy the 
right, without a previous agreement with the inhabitants or posses, 
sors of the soil. 

His Excellency will perceive, from the terms of this Treaty, that 
no rights of public sovereignty are claimed against the United States; 
but that the private rights of those who have settled and cultivated 
lands on the margin of the Ocean, are protected in such way as to 
secure their individual improvements from injury. 

In the Treaty of Utrecht, too, France is allowed the use of the 
unsettled shores, for the purpose of drying fish, by certain metes 
and bounds. 

The treaty concluded between Great Britain and Spain, in 1790, 
already alluded to, is to be viewed, in reference to this subject ; 
because, both nations, by restricting themselves from forming set- 
tlements, evidently intended that the fishery should be left open, 
both in the waters and on the shores of these Islands, and perfectly 
free, so that no individual claim for damage, for the use of the shores, 
should ever arise. That case, however, could scarcely occur, for 
whales are invariably taken at sea, and generally without the ma- 
rine league — and seals, on rocks and sandy beaches, incapable of 
cultivation. The stipulation in the treaty of 1790 is, clearly, 
founded on the right to use the unsettled shores for the purpose of 
fishery, and to secure its continuance. 

When the unsettled shore, although under the nominal sovereign- 
ty of a civilized nation, is, in fact, possessed by independent, unci- 
vilized tribes, the right to exclude other nations from the use of the 
shores, is on a much less stable footing. 

This is the case with all the continent of South America, to its 
extremity from the Rio Negro in lat. 41°, and also with Tierra del 
Fuego and some of the adjacent islands. On the Pacific side, the 
Araucanians ; and on the Atlantic, the Puelches, Patagonians and 
other tribes are perfectly independent. To the common use of these 
shores, therefore, there can be no reasonable objection. 

The following conclusions, from the premises laid down, are 
inevitable :- 

1. That the right of the United States to the Ocean fishery, and 
in the bays, arms of the sea, gulfs and other inlets capable of berno- 
fortified, is perfect and entire. 

2. That the right on the Ocean within a marine league of the 
shore, where the approach cannot be injurious to the Sovereign of 
the country — as it cannot be on uninhabited regions, or such ;u' 
are occupied altogether by savages — is equally perfect. 

3. That the shores of such regions can be used as freely as the 
waters : a right arising from the same principle. 



PAPERS* 



4. That a constant and uninterrupted use of the shores for the 
purposes of a fishery, would give the right, perfect and entire ; al- 
though settlements on such shores should be subsequently formed 
or established. 

That the citizens of the United States have enjoyed the rights of 
free fishery in these regions, unmolested, is a fact which cannot b© 
controverted. While they were yet subjects of Great Britain, it 
was of such notoriety that it attracted the attention of an illustrious* 
British statesman and orator, whose splendid panegyric, in the 
House of Commons, upon the maritime enterprise of the New-Eng- 
landers, will never be forgotten. ," Pass by the other parts (said 
the orator) and look at the manner in which the people of New- 
England have, of late, carried on the whale-fishery. While we 
follow them among the tumbling mountains of ice, and behold them 
penetrating into the deepest frozen recesses of Hudson's Bay and 
Davis' Straits ; whilst we are looking for them in the Arctic Circle ; 
we hear that they liave pierced into the opposite region of polar 
cold, — that they are at the Antipodes and engaged under the frozen 
Serpent of the South. Falkland Islands, which seemed to remote 
and romantic an object for the grasp of national ambition, is but a 
stage and resting place in the progress of their victorious indus- 
try," &c. 

It is of equal notoriety that from the period of the acknowledge- 
ment of their independence by Great Britain, they have been in the 
unmolested enjoyment of the whale and seal fishery in and about 
these islands : that these fisheries, with the full knowledge of Spain, 
have been prosecuted by them to an extent far exceeding the fish, 
eries of any and all other nations. If long and uninterrupted use 
and possession can impart any right to fisheries of the above de- 
scription — the title of the United States is unimpeachable. And 
Vattel, Book I., chap, xxiii., § 287, although he admits the right 
of nations owning the coasts to appropriate to themselves certain 
fisheries on their coasts — expressly excludes them under certain 
circumstances. " But if (says this writer) so far from taking pos- 
session of it, the nation has once acknowledged the common right 
of other nations to come and fish there, it can no longer exclude 
them from it. It has left that fishery in its primitive freedom, at 
least with respect to those who have been accustomed to take ad- 
vantage of it. The English not having originally taken exclusive 
possession of the herring fishery on their coasts, it has become com- 
mon to them with other nations." The acknowledgement spoken 
of, may be express or implied : a long continued use without in- 
terruption, is a virtual acknowledgement of the right to use ; 
and in the instance cited (the herring fishery on the English coast) 
there has been no formal acknowledgement, on the part of England, 



PAPEks. 



53 



that other nations have a right to use that fishery : from the acqui. 
oscence of England, the acknowledgement is inferred. 

Again — If it be admitted, hypothetically, that the rights of sove- 
reign jurisdiction were vested in the Argentine Republic, by virtue 
of the revolution of May, 1810, and that the right to exclude all 
nations from the fisheries of the Falklands and other islands men- 
tioned in the decree of June 10th, 1829, was undoubtedly conse- 
quent to sovereign jurisdiction thus acquired ; yet, some prelimina- 
ry acts remained to be performed, before the capture and detention 
of the persons or property of citizens of the United States of Ame- 
rica engaged in the fisheries, can be justified. 

If regions, never occupied or brought under any positive juris- 
diction — without garrisons, or naval forces, or inhabitants — are to 
be occupied and brought under civil or military rule, and those who 
have enjoyed the privilege of a free fishery there, are to be exclu* 
ded from that privilege, it is incumbent on the nation assuming such 
powers, to give official notice to the resident representatives, or to 
the Governments, of all nations with whom relations of amity are 
maintained, before any acts of violence, in assertion of such sove- 
reign rights, can be justified. A warning to individuals is not 
enough — for that is not a general notice ; and individuals not 
warned, may incur forfeitures and penalties, without any knowledge 
of their liabilities ; and their Governments, equally ignorant, could 
take no preventive measures for their security. 

In the archives of the American Legation here, and of the De- 
partment of State at Washington, there is not the slightest trace of 
any official notice of the decree of June 10th, 1829. 

The undersigned takes the liberty to say, that, on principles of 
common justice (and on such principles are the laws of nations 
based) a right enjoyed for more than half a century — even if it was 
enjoyed by tacit permission, only — ought not to be denied or with- 
drawn without notice : and, surely, no penalty can be enforced, 
with justice, in such cases — unless the system of ex post facto laws 
and decrees is to be revived, in an age which boasts of its enlighten- 
ed liberality and justice. Therefore, even on the supposition that 
the rights of the Argentine Republic are indisputable — yet, the 
seizure of American vessels is a just cause of complaint, and the 
Government of the United States have a right to demand restora- 
tion and indemnity. 

These remarks, touching the original rights of Spain and the 
derivative rights of the Argentine Republic : the rights of free 
fishery, and the propriety of notice, when dormant and unclaimed 
Tights are asserted and resumed, are offered for the consideration 
^f His Excellency. 

The undersigned is well aware that the pending question involves 
Important principles ; and, although he may he satisfied as to the 



54 



FAPEItS. 



extent and character of the rights of the United States and the Ar- 
gentine Republic, yet he freely admits that every nation must 
decide, for herself, on all questions touchiug her dignity and her 
sovereignty. 

If the Argentine Republic can shew conclusively that Spain was 
possessed of rights over the Falkland Islands, Tierra del Fuego, 
Cape Horn and the islands adjacent in the Atlantic Ocean, of such 
a high and sovereign character as to justify the exclusion of the 
citizens of the United States of America from the fisheries there ; 
if this Republic can shew that Spain has relinquished, renounced, 
or in any way lost her sovereign rights to the regions above men- 
tioned, and that such sovereignty has become absolutely vested in 
herself; and if she can further shew that having acquired such 
rights, and being about to exercise them, by inflicting penalties and 
forfeitures upon the persons and property of the citizens of a friend- 
ly nation, for exercising privileges which they had been long accus* 
tomed to use — she is justified in witholding all official notice of the 
acquisition of such rights, and of her intention so to exercise them, 
from the Government or the resident Representative of such nation 
— then, although the American Government might have some rea- 
son to complain of unceremonious and unfriendly treatment, there 
might, perhaps, have been no cause of complaint on the ground of 
a violation of positive rights. > 

These questions in controversy between the two Republics in- 
volve principles which, in their applicability to the national rights 
of the United States, extend far beyond these regions ; and affect, 
in a most serious manner, their most important and vital interests. 

It is the cause of deep regret to the people of those States, that 
circumstances should have compelled them to contend for these 
principles with a people for whom they have ever cherished the 
most amicable sentiments — whose independence was recognized by 
them at an early period of their national existence ; and the under- 
signed takes the liberty to say, that this recognition was not occa- 
sioned by any anticipations of the advantages of a free commercial 
intercourse — but from sympathies, excited to enthusiasm, for a 
gallant people, who had won their freedom by their prowess and 
valor. Ere that recognition had passed through the forms of le- 
gislation, it was a law in the hearts of the American people. 

The undersigned takes this occasion to inform His Excellency 
that he is instructed to say, " that the President of the United States 
" is fully sensible of the difficult situation in which the internal trou- 
" bles of this Republic have placed its Government, and that ho 
u does not attribute to any unfriendly disposition, acts, that, in ordi* 
" nary times, might wear such an aspect ; but he expects from the 
*' similarity of the Republican forms of the Governments of both 
u nations — and from a recollection of the early recognition of the 



PAPERS. 



55 



" independence of this Republic by the Government of the United 
$£ States, and their uniformly amicable disposition since, that, on 
" consideration of their complaints, full justice will be done to the 
•< citizens of the United States, and that measures will be taken to 
" meet the disposition he feels for a strict commercial union, on 
" principles of perfect reciprocity." 

If the preliminary difficulties can be removed — the undersigned 
has the pleasure to inform His Excellency that he is invested with 
full powers to conclude a Commercial Treaty with this Republic, 
on fair and reciprocal terms. 

The undersigned takes occasion to present to His Excellency 
the assurance of his high respect and consideration. 

FRANCIS BAYLIES, 



His Excellency 

Senor Dr. Don Manuel V. de Maza # 
Minister of Grace and Justice, 
Charged provisionally with the 
Department of Foreign Affairs. 

a 



56 




I No. XXII. ] 

[translation.] 

TO THE CHARGE D'AFFAIRES OF THE UNITED 
STATES OF AMERICA. 

Buenos- A tees, July 10th 5 1832. 

When the undersigned, Minister of Grace and Justice, charged 
provisionally with the Department of Foreign Relations, acknow- 
ledged to the Charge d'Affaires of the U. S., the receipt of his note 
dated the 20th ultimo, he expressed to him at the same time, that 
both with respect to the charges contained therein against Mr. Louis 
Vernet, and to the other points to which it referred, His Excellency 
the Governor would discharge his duty in a just and legal manner^ 
Therefore when the Government shall reply to the Charge d'Af- 
faires, on those subjects, it may then make the declaration which 
it may deem proper in behalf of its rights, without prejudice to those 
of any foreign, friendly or neutral nations, or any of their subjects. 
In the mean time, the undersigned hopes that whatever may be the 
ideas which the Charge d'Affaires of the U. S. entertains, respecting 
the conduct of Mr. Louis Vernet at the Malvinas, and the extent of 
the rights of the Argentine Republic, he will be aware that His 
Excellency the Governor cannot conscientiously form his opinion 
as to the nature of the facts from isolated assertions, however re- 
spectable the party by whom they are advanced ; and that he will 
much less judge it prudent to separate questions intimately connec- 
ted, in order to anticipate an answer as the Charge d'Affaires ap- 
pears to desire in his note of the 26th ult. The undersigned, serv-' 
ing as a faithful organ to the wishes of His Excellency the Governor 
of this Province, cannot but assure the Charge d'Affaires, that His 
Excellency being resolved not to swerve from the principles of strict 
justice, which the patriotic and enlightened people of the U. S. will 
know how to appreciate, will conduct himself always with that pru- 
dence and circumspection, which duty prescribes, in order in no 
instance to risk the correctness of his decisions. 

The undersigned salutes the Charge d'Affaires of the U. S. with 
his highest consideration. 

MANUEL VICENTE DE MAZA. 



PAPERS 




(COPY.) 

Legation of the United States of America, jr 
Buenos- A yres, July 11th, 1832. \ 

The undersigned, Charge d'Affaires from the United States of 
America near the Government of Buenos Ay res, has the honor to 
acknowledge the receipt of the communication from His Excellency 
the Minister of Grace and Justice, charged provisionally with the 
Department of Foreign Affairs, of yesterday's date. 

Although under no obligation of courtesy so to do, — yet, before 
the reception of the last communication from His Excellency, the 
undersigned had prepared another communication for his conside- 
ration ; and had entertained the hope, that its contents when well 
considered, might lead to the adjustment of an unpleasant contro. 
versy, on terms equally honorable to the Argentine Republic and 
the United States of America. 

As the object of the undersigned is to make known, with perfect 
frankness, the views of his own Government — and as he hopes to 
be met with a corresponding spirit by this Government ; although 
the enquiry which he had the honor to make, in his communication 
of the 26th ultimo is not yet answered — yet, he now transmits the 
communication which he had determined to place in His Excellen- 
cy's hands yesterday ; and he takes the liberty to express the wish 
that the final determination of the Government of the Argentine 
Republic may be communicated to him as speedily as the conve. 
nience of H. E. will permit. 

The undersigned prays H. E. to accept the assurance of hi? 
high "respect and consideration. 

FRANCIS BAYLIES. 

To His Excellency 
Senor Dr. D. Manuel Vtcente de Maza, 
Minister of Grace and Justice, 
Charged provisionally with the 
Department of Foreign Affair?. 



♦ 



5& PAPEKS, 




[ No. XXIV. ] 



(copy.) 

Legation of the United States of America, ) 
Buenos- Ay res, August 6th, 1832. \ 

The undersigned, Charge d'Affaires from the United States of 
America near the Government of the Argentine Republic, takes 
the liberty to remind H. E. the Minister of Grace and Justice, 
charged provisionally with the Department of Foreign Affairs,- 
that, in a communication which he had the honor to submit 
to him, of date June 20th — after a recapitulation of the outrages 
which had been committed by the Military and Civic Governor of 
the Falkland Islands and other territories, embraced in the Decree 
of June 10th, 1829, on the persons and property of citizens of the 
United States of America — he informed H. E. that he was autho- 
rized and instructed by his Government to say, " that they utterly 
denied the existence of any right in this Republic to interrupt, mo- 
lest, detain or capture any vessels belonging to citizens of the Uni« 
ted States, engaged in taking seals, or whales, or any species of fish 
or marine animals, in any of the waters, or on any of the shores or 
lands, of any, or either, of the Falkland Islands, Tierra del Fuego, 
Cape Horn or any of the adjacent islands in the Atlantic Ocean. 5 * 

The undersigned also takes the liberty to represent — that, in 
another communication, of June 26th, he had also the honor to sub- 
mit, on the part of his Government, an inquiry in simple and plain 
terms, " wishing to know, distinctly, from the Government, wheth- 
er it claimed, on its part, any right or authority to detain or cap- 
ture, or in any way to molest, interrupt or impede the vessels or the 
citizens of the United States, while engaged in fishing in the waters, 
or on the shores, of the Falkland Islands and the other places already 
mentioned " 

This enquiry not being answered, the undersigned, in another 
communication, of date July 10th, assumed the fact that the Argen- 
tine Republic did claim the right to exclude American citizens from 
the fisheries of all the shores and seas included within the limits of 
the civil and military Government of Don Luis Vernet ; and, al- 



PAPEHa. 



though it was incumbent on this Government to take the affirmative 
and prove their rights — inasmuch as force had been used in the. 
assertion ot those rights — yet, to convince this Government of the 
amacable disposition of the Government of the United States, and 
that the latter rested their rights on principles from which they 
could not swerve— he waves all technical advantages and under- 
took to prove, that the Argentine Republic had not the rights which 
were claimed, and submitted for the consideration of His Excellen- 
cy, an argument founded on the principles of international law and 
on historical facts. 

If the undersigned has been so unfortunate as to fail to convince 
His Excellency the Provisional Minister of Foreign Affairs and the 
Government whose organ he is, that the Argentine Republic has 
not the rights which are claimed — he wishes to know it as speedily 
as the- convenience of His Excellency will permit ; and if it is in- 
convenient for His Excellency to reply at length to the several 
points which were made in his communication of July 10th — yet 
it will be satisfactory in some respects (although unpleasant in 
others) to receive from His Excellency, as the organ of his Go- 
vernment, a formal and official assertion of this right to exclude 
American citizens from the use of these fisheries, in terms as brief 
as His Excellency shall choose to make them. 

If, on the other hand, the undersigned should be so fortunate as 
to find that his own opinions are in accordance with His Excellen- 
cy's, and with those of the Government of the Argentine Republic, 
touching these rights of fishery — it would be satisfactory to him to 
know it. 

The undersigned takes this occasion to proffer to His Excellency 
fhe assurance of hie high respect and consideration. 

FRANCIS BAYLIES, 



His Excellency 
Dr. Don Manuel V. de Maza c 
Minister of Grace and Justice, 
Charged provisionally with the 
Department of Foreign Affairs, 




[ ^o. X X V- ] 

(translation.) 

TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE SECRETARY OF STATE OF 
THE UNITED STATES OF NORTH AMERICA. 

Buenos Ayres, August 8th, 1832. 

The undersigned, Minister of Grace and Justice, charged provi. 
sionally with the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Argentine 
Republic, has received orders from his Government to address the 
Secretary of State of the U. S. of North America and manifest to 
him frankly and candidly, that from the time that as a political step 
of paramount importance to the interest of both countries, it resolved 
to suspend all official communication with Mr. George Washington 
Slacum, Consul of that Republic in this capital, His Excellency the 
Governor deemed it his duty to make known to H. E. the President 
of the United States, the motives which prompted that resolution. 
But the Ministers who had first intervened in the affair with Mr. 
Slacum having retired from office, and the duties of the Department 
having subsequently devolved on other members of the Adminis- 
tration, delay in the intended communication became inevitable. 

The Government of Buenos Ay res subsequently prepared to ful- 
fill this duty when by the last Message of His Excellency the Pre- 
sident of the United States under date of the 6th December last on 
the opening of Congress, received here on the 14th of February of 
the present year, it learned that a Minister from the U. S. was 
about to leave for the purpose* of " enquiring into the nature of the 
" occurrences at the Malvinas." His Excellency the Governor 
then resolved to await the arrival of that Minister, confident that 
as soon as he should be enabled to judge from correct statements, 
of what had happened and transmit to his Government the faithful 
result of his observations, the coolness of the conduct of the Buenos 
Ay res Government in its proceedings with Mr. Slacum would not 
be miscontrued by the Cabinet of Washington, into a feeling un- 
worthy of the Authorities of this country. 

The march of the Government had been so just and circumspect 
and so imperious the necessity of refusing to Mr. Slacum his accesit* 



PAPERS. 



that it was desirous the whole affair should be closely examined into, 
on the spot in order to avoid that change of aspect it might other- 
wise be liable to at a distance, the which would tend to diminish 
the simpathy which H. E. might otherwise expect from the wisdom 
and integrity of the Government of the United States. 

But the opinions of Mr. Baylies, Charge d'Affaires of the U. S., 
in his first note rendered the hope remote, that he would admit the 
vindication of the Argentine Government to take precedence of 
the interest of a person, to whom he appeared to have already lis. 
tened with predilection and whose restitution to the exercise of his 
Consular office, he did not hesitate to demand five days after he 
entered on his Diplomatic functions, apparently without having re- 
flected on the danger attendant on precipitate and unmeditated 
demands. This being the case it had become absolutely necessary 
for this Government to communicate directly with the Secretary of 
State of the U. S., in order to place the facts before him in their 
true light. 

As it will appear by the copies No. 1 to 9, herewith transmitted, 
Mr. Slacum, immediately on his becoming informed of the arrival 
of the American schooner Harriet at this Port from the Malvinas, 
initiated before this Government an irregular question and proposed 
to mantain the same on incorrect and indiscreet principles. The 
Harriet with two other schooners, the Breakwater and the Supe- 
rior, had been detained by the Political and Military Commandant 
of the said Islands for having persisted in their fishery, notwith- 
standing that since the year 1829 they had been formally notified 
that their vessels and cargos would be confiscated if they continued 
to fish on the coasts which were under the dominion of the Republic 
and had been colonized under the protection of the Argentine Go- 
vernment. The Harriet was brought to this Port not only for hav- 
ing infringed the public prohibition against fishing within the juris- 
diction of the Malvinas, but moreover by virtue of an express and 
solemn agreement entered into between the Commandant of the 
Islands and Captain Davison, by which the latter bound himself to 
come and answer before the Government of Buenos Ay res both 
for hhri&lf and as Representative of Captain Conger of the scho >n. 
er Superior, in the trial which should ensue, with regard to the 
seizure of their vessels and cargos. The affair would necessarily 
he argued before the Tribunals of this country, and no one without 
the most flagrant injustice could presume that an illegal decision 
would be given ; or, that Captain Davison or whoever else might, 
be siteularly situated would be deprived of any means of defence, 
that might be adequate to the protection of their rights and interests. 
But, Mr. Slacum, feigning to be ignorant of the principles on which 
this Covermnant took upon itself to detain Captain Davison,, an 
American citizen, — cosasid ;red t&e aet as calculated to disturb the 



0^ 



FAPE-Xt*. 



friendship and good understanding existing with the United States.: 
The Government of Buenos Ayres had the strongest reasons for 
Considering this step as preliminary to others, which might place it 
in the necessity of refusing every kind of interference on the part 
of Mr. Slacum, in the questions relating to the Malvinas. But for 
the present it limited itself solely to replying to him that the case 
of the Harriet was in a course of judicial procedure, and that 
it would be decided in conformity with the laws of the 
country. After such a declaration which involved a national re- 
sponsibility as to the result of the trial thus initiated, with respect 
to the case of the Harriet ; and since that on the one side the par- 
ties interested were secured from the damages, costs and prejudices 
that might arise thereon, and on the other there existed the express 
deed of agreement, which will be found in paper No. 11 ; it was not 
to be expected that Mr. Slacum would persist tenaciously in his 
interference. 

But far from terminating here an affair which, from its nature, 
involved other questions of a higher order, the discussion of which 
solely belonged to the two Governments or at least to functionaries 
of a more elevated class than a mere Consul, Mr. Slacum went so 
far as not only to deny in toto that any right either has existed or 
does exist in the Republic to detain American vessels engaged in 
the fishery of seals on the Malvinas, and the islands and coasts ad- 
jacent to Cape Horn ; but furthermore to protest formally against 
all the measures that in virtue of such right had been adopted in- 
cluding the Decree published under date of the 10th June, 1829, by 
which the property in the islands and fisheries, was asserted and 
an administrative authority established in the name of the Republic, 
—that is to say, " denying the sovereignty which the Argentine 
i{ Republic exercises over these islands." 

It is not necessary to comment on the terms of this Protest in 
order to estimate its importance. Many years had elapsed since 
that, under the very eye of a Charge d'Affaires of the United 
States, the colony in the Malvinas was founded by order of the 
Argentine Government. The commission granted on the 10th of 
June, 1829, in favor of Don Luis Vernet, appointing him Military 
and Political Commandant of the said Islands with competent au- 
thority and jurisdiction, was published in the newspapers of this 
capital—when neither Mr. Forbes thought proper to make the 
slightest objection thereto ; nor was any other individual of the 
United States hardy enough to call in question the right of the Re- 
public to dispose, as it might deem proper, of a territory belong- 
ing to the Argentine State, such as it had heen acknowledged to be 
without contradiction hy the Government of Washington itself. 

But, on what grounds could Mr. Slacum call this right a ques^ 
tion ? Could he be ignorant that the Malvina Islands, coasts of 



SAPEHO. • 63 

Patagonia and its. adjacencies unto Cape Horn were comprehended 
in the territorial delineation of the Kings of Spain as constituting 
an integral part of the former Vice Royalty of Buenos Ayres, since 
erected into a nation by the will and efforts of its sons ? Could Mr. 
Slacum doubt that the right acquired by the Court of Spain, to 
what it had discovered, conquered, possessed and occupied as well 
on the continent as in the islands adjacent to the aforesaid Vice 
Royalty, has descended as a fundamental right to the Argentines, 
from the instant they asserted their nationality and independence 
and formed themselves into a Republic ; in the same manner that 
the right to these territories which had been discovered, conquered, 
possessed and occupied by England in North America, descended 
to its sons with jurisdictional authority which the United Stat s 
duly appropriated to themselves? If Mr. Slacum has wished to 
deny the right of Spain to the sovereignty of the Malvinas and tne 
islands adjacent, has he forgotten that as often as they have been 
occupied by English or French colonists — so often have they again 
been given up, in virtue of remonstrances from the Court of Spain ; 
and that although the fishery and traffic of these islands was for- 
merly an object of serious controversy — Spain, nevertheless, was 
at all times firm in her resistance, which was at length acquiesced 
in, from a just respect to the sovereignty which she exercised over 
them ? Without adducing for the present those reasons, which in 
proper time will completely elucidate this question, it sufficed that 
the Government of Buenos Ayres had the power to impose or remove 
the restrictions which of right appertain to her to adopt, as to the fish- 
ery of amphibious animals in the Malvinas ; it was sufficient that the 
detention of the Harriet and the other two schooners alluded to, 
could be conciliated with the common lav/ of nations, to snew, that 
the Protest of Mr. Slacum was as extravagant as it was foreign to 
his Consular functions. Nevertheless, the Government limited it- 
self to signifying to Mr. Slacum, that the legal investigation which 
was in process in the case of the Harriet was only intended to place 
it in possession of the truth, in order to decide as justice mi^ht pre- 
scribe ; and that it could not acknowledge that he in his Consular 
character had authority to enter such Protest. 

Thus far had the Ministerial correspondence been carried on, 
when Mr. Slacum transmitted to the Department of Foreign Affairs 
the letter of Mr. Duncan, Commander of the United States Ship 
Lexington, announcing his intention to sail for the Malvinas, with 
the force under his command, for the purpose of protecting the citi- 
zens and commerce of the United States in the fishery in question ; 
disguising under apparent candor the perfid'vus machinations which 
were in concertation. Mr. Slacum's note was dated the 3d of De- 
cember, — and by another und^r dr.;te of the 6th, he stated that 
Captain Duncan would delay his departure, solely, until the morn- 



ing of the 9th, in the hope that, in the mean time, he might receive 
intelligence of the orders of this Government to leave unrestricted 
the right of free fishery to the North Americans ; to restore to the 
owners or agents of the schooner Harriet the vessel and cargo ; 
and, at the same time, to withdraw from the Military and Civil Com- 
mandant of the Malvinas all powers of interference in the traffic in 
which the citizens of the United States were engaged on the coasts 
thereof. 

It now became easy to discover through the veil which disguised 
these demands, the strict connivance which existed between the 
Commander of the Lexington and Mr. Slacum,|and that the latter, 
regardless of the unassuming pretentions of the Ministry, endeavor- 
ed to give a dark coloring to the faithful picture which Comman- 
dant Vernet had pourtrayed in the publications made by him, re- 
lative to every thing connected with the detention of the schooners 
in Malvinas. But the Government, firm in its resolution not to de- 
part from a benevolent and equitable line of conduct, notified Mr. 
Slacum, on the 9th of the same month, that Mr. Gilbert Davison 
of the Harriet, who had embarked on board the American corvette 
Lexington, ought not to absent himself without leaving some proper 
person empowered to represent him ; and urged him at the same 
time to make it known to the party interested, as in the case either 
of his refusal or omission to do so, he would subject himself to all 
the damages, costs and prejudices consequent thereon. The Go- 
vernment took advantage of the opportunity thus offered it, to ad- 
vise Mr. Slacum, that although it did not acknowledge the authority 
which he wished to arrogate to himself since the death of Mr. 
Forbes, yet it could not do otherwise than make him sensible of 
the surprise it felt that he should have desired to circumscribe to 
the precise time fixed for the departure of the Lexington, the de- 
cision of a private litigated affair, in which, in the exercise of his 
Consular functions, he could have no interference ; and which, 
having to be tried and decided on in conformity with the laws of 
the country, demanded a serious and lengthened consideration, in 
order to avoid committing any act of injustice. Above all, Mr. 
Slacum was informed that any proceeding that might have a ten- 
dency to disavow the right of the Argentine Republic to the Mai- 
vinas and other islands and coasts adjacent to Cape Horn, would 
give rise to a formal remonstrance which the Government would 
make to that of the United States, under the firm conviction that 
it would meet with just attention. 

Neither the repeated incivilities of Mr. Slacum — his continued 
transgression of the limits of his Consular duty, in endeavoring to 
turn the natural course of the affair of the Malvinas, already sub- 
ject to legal procedure ; nor finally the known circumstance of 
his mercantile connexion, so foreign to the duty of a Public Func 



PAPERS, 



65 



tionary, who nevertheless took part in these questions, could induce 
the Government to depart from the position it had taken in order 
to give His Excellency the President of the U. S. an incontestible 
proof of the coolness and moderation by which the Administration 
of the Republic was regulated. Nevertheless, after all these un- 
pleasant occurrences, it preserved towards Mr. Slacum the same 
immunities and acts of courtesy which it had paid to any other 
Consul resident in this capital ; because the wisdom, probity and 
circumspection of the Cabinet of Washington presented a pledge 
of confidence by far too respectable for it to doubt that in its judg- 
ment it would incline itself in favor of the rights and dignity of the 
Argentine Government, whose friendly disposition ought never to 
be doubted either by the Government or the people of North Ame- 
rica. Thus elapsed more than two months, when the Government 
of Buenos Ayres was surprised by the receipt of the unexpected 
news of the attack made by the Ship-of-war Lexington on the co- 
lony established in Malvinas, on the Island of Soledad, — which was 
effected, without any resistaace, on the 31st December last, by her 
Commander, Duncan, who spiked the artillery, fired the maga- 
zine, disposed of the public and private property, and carried on 
board, in arrest, the person entrusted with the preservation of the 
colonial fishery — loaded with irons six citizens of the Republic, and 
atrociously destroyed the fruits of many years' honest industry — 
vulnerating at the same time the rights and respect due to a friendly 
nation. This outrage, in the execution of which Mr. Duncan spared 
no means to render it as humiliating and scandalous as possible, in 
the eyes of the world, awakened a just resentment in a people jea- 
lous of their prerogatives — who were conscious of not having offen- 
ded — and who, since their emancipation from Spain, had never 
omitted one single act of benevolence or generous hospitality to- 
wards the citizens of the United Statos. It moreover compromised 
the highest duties of the Government, obliging it to coincide with 
the public opinion which designated Mr. Slacum, if not as the active 
coadjutor of this unheard of transgression, at least as the blind tool 
of a misguided opinion, and whose example probably had stimulated 
Captain Duncan to perpetrate this shameful assault upon a peacea- 
ble settlement, subject to the authority and the laws of the Argen. 
tine Republic. 

From the moment this opinion with regard to Mr. Slacum be- 
came a national feeling — from the moment the Government was 
obliged to look upon him with displeasure and suspicion, he could 
no longer be a proper organ to promote the interests of his coun. 
try ; he could no longer be admitted in his public character with- 
out wounding the dignity of the Argentine Republic, nor without 
acting in opposition to the opinion of its citizens, and consequently 



00 



PAPERS. 



diminishing that confidence which it is the duty of the authorities 
to inspire. 

Acting upon this principle, on the 14th of February, it notified to 
Mr. Slacum the suspension of all official communication with him — 
inviting him to nominate some person duly qualifiM to exercise his Con- 
sular functions, as will appear by the authorized copy No, 12, — and 
at the same time garantying the persons and property of the North 
Americans with every security in the power of a civilized and 
humane Government. 

From the candid exposition the undersigned has thus made, by 
order of his Government, to H. E. the Secretary of State of the 
U. S., of the course the Ministerial correspondence with Mr. Sla- 
cum had taken, and the causes which have influenced the conduct 
of the Government, the undersigned is persuaded — 

1. That in the mind of H. E. the President of the United;States> 
the motives for delaying this communication, will de deemed jus- 
tifiable. 

2. That during the progress of this disagreeable controversy, the 
Government has omitted no effort to bring the question to a legal 
issue. 

3. That the refusal to hold further communication with Mr. Sla- 
cum was not only a consequence strictly allied to the dignity of 
the first authority in the country, but likewise that H. E. in making 
use of the rights inherent to his office and in all respects conforma. 
ble with the customs of other nations, has left nothing undone in 
order to secure the interests of the Americans. 

The undersigned, in renewing on this occasion the sincere 
wishes of his government to maintain inviolate the friendship and 
good understanding between the United States and the Argentine 
Republic, permits himself to join his own to this National feeling, 
and salutes H. E. the Minister with his most distinguished conside- 
ration. 

MANUEL VICENTE DE MAZA. 



PAPERS. 



[ Xo. XXVI. ] 

[translation.] 

TO FRANCIS BAYLIES, Esq., CHARGE D'AFFAIRES OF 
THE UNITED STATES OF NO&TH AMERICA. 

Buenos Ayres, August 14th, 1832. 

The undersigned Minister of Grace and Justice, charged pro- 
visionally with the Department of Foreign Relation of the Ar- 
gentine Republic, has the honor to state, that Mr. Lo^is Vernet, 
"Political and Military Commandant of the Malvina Islands, having 
returned the report which the Government had required from him, 
(an authorised copy whereof is herewith transmitted,) relative to 
certain charges and complaints which the Charge <r Affaires of 
the U. S. adduced in his first note dated in this city the 20th of 
June last, His Excellency the Governor of this Province has 
taken into consideration as well the before-mentioned note as the 
four subsequent ones under dates of 26th of the same month of 
June, 10th and 11th of July and 6th of the present month of Au- 
gust, which His Honor has been pleased to address to the under- 
signed. 

Having scrupulously examined and meditated on the contents of 
the before-mentioned notes, he observes that in the first the Charge 
d' Affaires of the U. S. proposed with earnest solicitude to draw 
the attention of H.' E. principally and almost exclusively towards 
certain proceedings of Mr. Louis Vernet, who claimed, under a 
decree of the government of this province, dated June 10th, 1829, 
to be Civil and Military Commandant of the Malvina Islands and 
all those adjacent to Cape Horn (including Tierra del Fuego,) in 
the Atlantic Ocean, forming on such proceedings various com- 
plaints and charges against the aforesaid commandant, and declar- 
ing himself authorised to utterly deny the existence of any ri«rht 
in this Republic to interrupt, molest, detain or capture any vessel 
belonging to the U. S. of North America, or any persons whatso- 
ever, being citizens of those States, engaged in taking seals or 
whales or any species of fish or marine animal in rny of the wa- 
fers or on any of the shores or lands of any or either of the Mai 



68 



PAFEE8. 



vina Islands, Tierra del Fuego, Cape Horn, or any of the adja- 
cent islands in the Atlantic Ocean. In consequence thereof, and 
of the outrages committed by Mr. Louis Vernet on the persons 
and property of American citizens, His Honor demanded the re- 
stitution of all captured property belonging to the said citizens, 
which may be at present in the possession of this government or in 
that of Mr. Louis Vernet, remonstrating also against his appoint- 
ment as Civil and Military Governor of the Malvinas, Tierra del 
Fuego and other islands in the Atlantic Oeean adjacent to Cape 
Horn, and claiming ample indemnity for all other property of 
American citizens which may have been seized, sold or destroyed 
by the said Vernet or any persons acting under his orders ; and full 
and ample immunity and reparation for all consequential losses 
and damages arising therefrom, together with full indemnity to all 
American citizens for personal wrongs, whether resulting from 
detention, imprisonment, or personal indignities. 

In reply, the undersigned in his note of the 25th June had the 
honor to mak<J known to the Charge d' Affaires of the U. S., that the 
Government had resolved under that date to require from Mr. 
Louis Vernet, explanations on all and every subject of complaint 
against his public conduct, in the cases resting on his responsibility ; 
and that when it should be enabled to form its opinion thereon, as 
well from what the said Vernet might set forth as from the grounds 
on which His Honor founded his remonstrances, His Excellency 
would then discharge his duty without infringing the individual 
rights of the citizens of North America who may prove to have 
been aggrieved or injured, and likewise without sacrificing to exor- 
bitant pretentions the rights of Mr. Louis Vernet ; and much less 
the public ones,which, by the common law of nations, belong to the 
Argentine Republic as a sovereign and independent State. 

After the undersigned addressed to the Charge d'Affaires the 
communication alluded to, His Honor, in a note of 26th of the 
same month, endeavored to maintain that such explanations were 
unnecessary, inasmuch as Mr. Louis Vernet had publicly acknow- 
ledged under his own signature the fact of the capture of the Ame- 
rican vessels, as if this were the only charge and complaint brought 
forward by the Charge d'Affaires ; thus shewing his desire to vary 
the course of the negotiation, since without desisting from the char- 
ges he had adduced, nor from the denial of the right of the Argen- 
tine Republic to the Mai vina Islands, &c, he limited himself prin- 
cipally to exact (insisting on the same in his subsequent note of 
1 1th July) that this Government should declare, if whether on its part 
it claimed to have any right or authority to detain or capture, or oth- 
erwise molest, interrupt or impede the vessels or the citizens of the 
United States employed in fishing in the waters on the coasts of 
the Malvina Islands and the other before mentioned places. 



?A*ER8 



This want of stability, evinced in the first step taken by the Char- 
ge d'Affaires, is, in the opinion of the Government, an indication 
of the violent efforts which His Honor makes to present as an in- 
I cidental consequence of the principle point in discussion, the daring 
and cruel outrage committed in the said islands by Mr. Duncan, 
' Commander of the U. S. Ship-of-war Lexington, — -destroying in a 
time of profound peace, with rancorous fury and in a manner alike 
perfidious and ferocious, a settlement which had been formed pub- 
licly by this Government without meeting at the time any opposi- 
tion, and of which it had subsequently remained in full possession, in 
virtue of the indisputable right it had, and still has, to those islands. 

His Excellency believes that he should have been guilty of a 
breach of duty had he dissembled in a case of such marked incon- 
gruity, listening to the pretensions of the Charge d'Affaires. The 
barbarous act, committed by Mr. Duncan, in contempt of the esta- 
blished customs of civilized nations and the courtesy which they 
invariably observe towards each other, is the point which should 
take precedence in the consideration of both Governments. It has 
attracted the public attention in every part where the news of that 
heinous outrage has reached — it has excited the disgust of all those 
who possess sentiments of justice and humanity — it has intensely 
wounded the honor and dignity of both Republics, by contemning 
and outraging the Argentine — and tarnishing and detracting from 
the credit and reputation which the United States have ever merited. 

The truth is as ostensible, as it is easy to be felt. In order, how. 
ever, to render it more palatable, the undersigned will for an instant 
admit all His Honor has alledged, in support of his assertion, " that 
the Argentine Republic has no right whatever to the said islands 
he will also admit that the government of this province, having act- 
ed under a mistaken belief in conceding to Commandant Vernet 
the exclusive right to the seal-fishery on those coasts — which the 
latter claims and defends in behalf of himself and of his colonists 
— that that right was null and void, and consequently that the cap. 
ture of the Harriet, Superior and Breakwater was an unjust act. 
Even so : after these momentary gratuitous concessions — as com- 
mandant Vernet acted under the belief that he was merely exer- 
cising the same right by which he who considers himself robbed, 
apprehends the thief with the stolen property in his possession, a^d 
carries him before the nearest authority to which he is subordinate, 
in order that he may receive justice at its hands — it is evident 
that the capture which the said Vernet made can never be con- 
strued into an offence from nation to nation, or even as a formal act 
of injustice between man and man. The worst conclusion that 
could be drawn from it would be that it was a fault committed in 
good faith, under a wrong impression, and for which the captor 
was in nowise culpable. 



70 



In such a case, what ought to be done in conformity witn the 
rights or* nations, and the established practice of all civilized peo* 
.pie who admit the principles of justice and moderation for the 
standard of their conduct ? What course should be followed in 
order to preserve peace and harmony among the general society 
of nations, and to cause right to be respected by means of reason 
and conviction ? Is it, perchance, that any commander of a vessel 
belonging to the nation of the captured party should take upon 
himself to destroy the place to which the captor belonged, load the 
inhabitants with irons, carry them captive to foreign lands, and 
despoil them of their property ? Certainly not : such conduct 
would never have been resorted to towards powerful nations such 
as England and France ; it could only take place by an ignoble 
abuse of strength against weakness, or between savage people who 
*know no other law than the dictates of their own passions, and 
who adopt no other method to obtain redress for their real or fan. 
cied injuries, but such as a blind and ferocious revenge instigate. 

Every sovereign government has the exclusive right of judging 
its own subjects within the limits of its own dominions ; and, in the 
exercise of this right, it should be considered sufficiently just to 
oblige them by legal means to make reparation for any loss or 
grievance they may cause to a foreigner. In this respect, the pre* 
sumptions are always in its favor, so long as there is no positive 
evidence to the contrary. Hence it is, that the rational and just, 
measure which, in the supposed case, ought to have been adopted 
by the captain of the Harriet, is the same which is admitted by all 
civilized nations in the world, when a privateer, through error 
in fact or in right, unjustly captures either a merchant or a fishing 
vessel, and carries her with her captain before the competent au- 
thority of the country under whose flag he cruizes. Capt. Davi- 
son ought to have laid his complaint against commandant Vernet 
before the authorities of the Province, have justified his proceed- 
ings upon the same principles (or others,) which are at present ad- 
duced by the Charge d'Affaires, and consequently demanded repa- 
ration for all losses and injuries which Mr. Louis Vernet, as corn, 
mandant of Malvinas, had caused him. 

If the authorities, admitting the justice of the claim, granted re- 
paration, the affair would then have concluded in a rational and 
pacific manner; but, if on the contrary, redress were denied, that 
even w< ukl not form sufficient grounds for insulting the Argentine 
flag or justify the commission of such a violent and inhumane out- 
rage, as that perpetrated by Captain Duncan. There still remain, 
ed reef urse to the pacific means of negociation — and if by nego> 
ciatiori no r dress could be obtained for notorious injustice, then, 
and not until then, should force be resorted to ; not, however, by a 
Commander of a vessel, rushing, as he did, by surprise and with 



PAPERS. 



71 



deceit like a robber or a pirate, upon a defenceless settlement, un- 
suspicious of danger, in a time of profound peace and relying on 
the good faith of all nations : but, by adhering to all those previous 
forms and ceremonies as hitherto invariably observed, and which 
in the present day more than ever most scrupulously influence the 
councils and resolves of every civilized nation, before declaring 
war against another. Wattel, whom the Charge d'Affaires has quo- 
ted in one of his notes, in support of his arguments says in book 
the 2d, chap. 18th, paragraph 354, " That those who have re- 
course to arms without necessity are a scourge to the human race, 
are barbarous enemies to society, and rebels against the law of 
nature, or rather against the laws of the common father of man- 
kind. 

Capt. Davison and the ex-consul Slacum did not act in confor- 
mity to this doctrine. Both refused to adhere to a proper line of 
conduct. The former preferred to abscond from his vessel in the 
face of an official communication from the then Minister of Fo- 
reign Relations, Dr. D. Tomas Manuel de Anchorena, addressed 
to the latter at the petition of Commandant Vernet, to the effect 
that he would intimate to the said captain that if he absented him- 
self from the country, he should leave an agent properly instruct- 
ed in the cause under procedure, in relation to his capture, in 
which the before-mentioned Vernet was desirous he should answer 
to the charges he intended to bring against him. The ex-consul 
refused to convey that intimation ; he engaged in inopportune and 
extemporaneous questions infinitely beyond his official character, 
going to the extreme of adopting uncourteous language, inconsist- 
ent with that modest respect with which the government of every 
sovereign State ought to be addressed. At the same time Capt. 
Duncan interfering in the affair, had the audacity to write to the 
before-mentioned Minister in an uncivil and impolite manner. 

All irregularity, injustice, insult and violence have therefore 
been on the part of Messrs. Slacum and Duncan, but the more es- 
pecially on that of the latter, for having carried to the last extre- 
mity his grossness and ferocity, destroying with unspeakable in- 
humanity and perfidy the colony of Malvina Islands. Thus have 
they openly contemned, depressed and outraged the dignity of the 
Argentine people, with manifest dishonor to their own nation and 
government- 

In the presence of such evident and scandalous aggressions, 
which do not admit of doubt or denial, it becomes the duty of the 
government of this province, acting for itself and as charged with 
the foreign affairs of the Republic, to demand, before all things, 
from the government of the U. S. of America the most prompt 
and ample satisfaction for such outrages, and full redress and repa- 
ration to the Argentine Republic, to commandant Vernet, and to 

l o 



PAPERS* 



the colonists under liis jurisdiction in the Malvina Islands, for all 
the damages and losses of whatever nature they may be, which 
they have suffered and are suffering in consequence of the aggres- 
sions committed by Capt. Duncan. 

In virtue of this, and seeing that the Charge d' Affaires of the U. 
S. has declared that he is fully authorised to treat on the subject, 
the undersigned has orders from his government to demand from 
His Honor, as he now does in the most solemn and formal manner, 
the already expressed prompt and ample satisfaction, reparation 
and indemnity, for all damages and losses incurred. 

The government, notwithstanding its full confidence in the mag- 
nanimity and rectitude of principles which that of the U. Stated 
has ever evinced, and although it is persuaded that the latter will 
not deny the absolute justice of this demand, or that it is bound in 
honor to accede to it. Nevertheless, as the nature of the question 
requires this mode of proceeding ; and as, on the other hand, it 
most deeply affects the honor and dignity of the Argentine Repub- 
lic, it has not been able to avoid adopting the resolution just ex- 
pressed. 

The undersigned has likewise received orders to state to the 
Charge d' Affaires of the U. S. of America, that, until this govern- 
ment shall have obtained its demands, it will not enter into the dis- 
cussion of any of the other points comprised in the before -men- 
tioned notes of His Honor, inasmuch as this would be equivalent to 
passing over the acts of Capt. Duncan, of which the undersigned 
neither can or ought to lose sight for an instant. And on making 
this authorised declaration, he does not hesitate to assure the 
Charge d' Affaires, that, in the mean time, his government will ex- 
ercise its rights in the manner it may deem proper. 

The undersigned tenders the Charge d'affaires of the United 
States of North America the assurances of the high attention with 
which he salutes him. 

MANUEL VICENTE DE MAZA. 



4 



PAPERS, 



73 



t TCo. XXVII. ] 

[translation.] 

REPORT OF THE POLITICAL AND MILITARY COM- 
MANDANT OF THE MALVINAS. 

Excellent Sir : 

Your Excellency has been pleased to furnish me with a copy of 
a series of charges which Mr. Baylies, Charge d" Affaires of the 
United States, in his note of the 20th of June, has brought forward 
on the opening of the negociation relative to the Malvina Islands ; 
to the end, that, informing myself of its contents, I may reply in a 
manner at once clear, frank and diffuse. It is gratifying to me to 
find summed up all the charges directed against me, and to have 
thus afforded me an opportunity to rebut them at one and the same 
time ; removing, perhaps, by this means, the principal obstacles 
the government may have to encounter in the progress of the ne- 
gotiation now commenced. In the execution of this agreeable and 
delicate task, I shall not allow myself to be influenced by the ex* 
ample before me, — I shall not allow myself to be carried away by 
resentments, however just,-—in fine, I shall not forget that I amad< 
dressing the chief authority of a civilized country. 

Long, indeed, is the list of accusations which the Charge d'Af= 
faires brings against me. To proceed distinctly, I shall compress 
them to what is essentially necessary, and present them in a redu* 
ced but correct point of view. 

Charge 1.-—" On the- 30th day of July, 1831, the Ameri- 
" can schooner Harriet, while engaged in lawful business, was 
" captured by my orders, and the captain and crew, with the 
" exception of the mate, cook and steward, placed in confine- 
'* ment. I forcibly took the vessel's papers, and several arti* 
** cles of provisions, which I sold, without previous condemna* 
41 tion. I did the same on the 17th and 19th of August fol- 
" lowing with the schooner Breakwater, Capt. Carew, (with 
" the difference that the crew of this vessel succeeded in esea* 
" ping \vjth her, and reaching their own country,) and the 
" schooner Superior, Capt. Congar." 

I could not have believed, that, after having so completely re. 
futed all those points in the representation I presented to the Tribu- 
nal, which took cognizance of the seizure, and which has been 



74 



?APER6, 



printed, and must consequently have been read by the Charge 
d'Affaires, that such futile and unjust accusations would have again 
been brought forward. I refer to that representation, and I will 
add, by way of memorandum, that I therein demonstrated, — 
1st, That in the year 1829 I found the Harriet loaded with seal 
skins which had been taken in that jurisdiction. I. generously 
permitted her to depart with her cargo, warning her that in case of 
the recurrence of the offence, both vessel and cargo would be con- 
fiscated ; and, to make the notification more complete, as she re- 
turned again in 1830, I delivered the captain a circular containing 
the same general warning. 2d, That, in violation of this solemn 
prohibition, which I was expressly charged by the government to 
promulgate and carry into effect, as governor of that district, those 
three vessels continued the same traffic, and were consequently de- 
tained, together with every thing belonging to them, to be arraign- 
ed before the competent ; tribunal which voluntary violation has 
been confessed and admitted by the captains of the Harriet and 
Superior in the contract we afterwards entered into. 3d, That I 
received by inventory all that was on board the Harriet, but no- 
thing was touched belonging to the Superior, as it was not necessa- 
ry, nor of the Breakwater, as she made her escape. 4th, That a 
small part of the articles belonging to the Harriet, that is to say, 
provisions, were of necessity divided amongst the colonists, in or- 
der to neutralize the effects of the presents Capt. Davison had clan- 
destinely and prodigally distributed amongst some of them, as it 
was but just that such of the colonists as remained faithful should 
not be deprived of that which the others enjoyed ; and it being 
once necessary to make the distribution, it could only be done in 
the way I adopted ; that is, by distributing the provisions by rations 
to such as were on duty, and by selling them to those who were 
not ; the which could cause no injury to the owners of the Harriet, 
for, if she should not ultimately be condemned, the value of these 
provisions, which would scarcely have amounted to one hundred 
dollars, was secured to them by the inventory taken. 5th, That a 
great part of those articles still existed at the period of my depar- 
ture from Malvinas, and another part still more considerable was 
distributed amongst the crew of the Harriet and the passengers 
who went in the Elbe, and served also to provision the Superior 
when she sailed afterwards to the southward. And I now add, 
that, with respect to the papers, I not only had authority to seize 
them, but it was my duty so to do, as captor of the vessel, in or- 
der that they might be produced on the trial. 6th, That the re- 
straint (not confinement, for he was not one instant imprisoned,) 
imposed on Davison by placing a guard to prevent his communica^ 
ting with the vessel or crew, was a measure which his bad conduct 
rendered necessary one of those precautionary measures which 



PAPERS 



75 



every government can legally adopt in times of extraordinary 
peril. Davison and his crew were at liberty, and : what was the 
result ? The seduction which he had begun to practice, and the 
formal preparations for a conspiracy, which would have caused 
blood to flow, and have annihilated a weak colony. Then it was 
that the crew were imprisoned, but only for the short space of time 
which elapsed prior to the voluntary departure of the conspirators 
for Rio Janeiro. 

All this and much more has been demonstrated in the represen- 
tation of which I now accompany a printed copy, in order that Your 
Excellency may be pleased to transmit it to the Charge d'Affaires. 
I therefore consider it unnecessary to enlarge more on these parti- 
culars, although in the reply to the other charges I may perhaps 
touch on some of them again. For the present I have only to re- 
mark : 1st, That the facts related have heen all proved in the 
course of the trial, as may be seen by the papers relative thereto, 
and the Charge d'Affaires can call for certified copies of them if 
he deem proper. 2d, That the competent Tribunal has declared, 
the said vessels to be lawful prizes and consequently has justified 
my proceedings. 

But the Charge d'Affaires, has brought forward other charges 
still more unfounded, so much so that even the ex-Consul Slacum 
notwithstanding the levity and causticity, with which he conducted 
himself in this serious affair, w as not bold enough to advance them, 
Let us proceed to examine them. 

Charge 2. — " The captain of the Breakwater who remain- 
" ed in Malvinas with four men when that vessel made her 
" escape, desired to come to Buenos Ayres, but nevertheless I 
" compelled him to go to Rio de Janeiro in a British vessel." 
All the individuals of the crews of the three schooners who sailed 
for Rio de Janeiro in this British vessel (Elbe), which I had freight, 
ed, and which was the only one that then offered, went because 
they chose to do so, with the express knowledge and consent of the 
captain ; and not because they were compelled to it. This also 
will be found proved in the before mentioned papers. For the rest, 
this is the first time I have heard that, the captain of the Breakwa- 
ter desired to come to this place in the Harriet in which I myself 
came, and with the same frankness I will now say, that had I known 
it and even had he solicited me, I would not have consented to it* 
The Harriet brought only four men of my confidence, Capt. Davi- 
son came in her, and it would have been a stupid imprudence, which 
might have been fatal to me, had I consented that Carew should 
have accompanied us, inasmuch as even when I was in the very 
centre of my resources in the colony, they had barefacedly set on 
foot a conspipcy. And was I to give them the opportunity of ek 



PAPEKS. 



fecting it with more facility on board the Harriet ? I can prove 
that at the time we sailed Davison had formed the design of run* 
ning away with the vessel. 

Charge 3.« — " I forced the captain and crew of the Superior 
" with the vessel, into my private service and for my personal 
" interest. I induced them to enter into a mercantile con- 
" tract, in pursuance of which, they were to go to the South, 
" beyond my jurisdiction, for the purpose of taking seals on 
" my account. In this written agreement, they were induced 
" to confess that their vessels had been seized by me, as Civil 
' 6 and Military Governor, for having violated the laws of the 
" Republic, notwithstanding they had been previously warned 
" not to do so. Regardless of the usages of nations, I compelled 
" these individuals who were depressed by imprisonment and 
" sufferings, to bind themselves by oaths to do nothing to 
" compromise my interests ; and to agree that any infraction 
" of this contract should be considered as a breach of good 
" faith and that no laws should liberate them from the penal- 
" ties and forfeitures, which in that case I might deem proper; 
" all for the purpose of securing my piratical interests. In 
" this mode, instead of bringing the infractors to trial, I obliged 
" them to enter into my service for my personal interest. I 
" substituted myself in the place of the owners of the vessel. 
" I degraded my Government and my official character, by 
" transforming myself into a merchant, and by calling myself, 
" in the contract, Director of the colony, instead of Civil and 
" Military Governor." - 

How many facts, how many considerations, all equally striking, 
crowd here Excellent Sir ! Not the least important is that a man 
requires a great command over his feelings to avoid steeping his 
pen in gall when with such irritating and poignant injustice he finds 
himself represented in a diplomatic document as a debased charac- 
ter, a high sea robber, in short, Sir, as & pirate! But I have de- 
termined to suppress my just resentments : I owe this sacrifice to 
the dignity of the Government I address, and to the respect which 
I sincerely profess for that of the great nation, which the Charge 
d'Affaires represents. 

I will endeavor, therefore, to arrange and express my ideas, with 
order, on the various particulars embraced in this charge. 

After the escape of the Breakwater, the captains of the Harriet 
and Superior waited on me one day and submitted to me certain 
proposals, which, after being duly considered, produced in result 
the contract referred to, which is literally as follows : 

" The schooner Harriet, Captain R. Gilbert Davison, of Stoning^ 
ton, and the schooner Superior, Captain Stephen Congar, of New 



PAPERS. 



77 



York, having been siezed for sealing the Falkland Islands and Sta- 
ten-land contrary to warning given them ; and being therefore about 
to be sent to Buenos Ayres to stand their trial ; and said captains 
considering the delays that often attend such trials, having sugges- 
ted that it would be for the interest of all concerned, that only one 
vessel be sent to Buenos Ayres, with the papers and documents re- 
specting the seizure of both, and the other be permitted to go to a 
newly discovered, promising, sealing ground on the West coast of 
South America ; provided that satisfactory security could be given 
for the timely reappearance of such sealing vessels, and Lewis 
Vernet, Esqr. a Director of the colony of Port Louis, East Falkland 
Island, having taken upon himself the responsibility of said vessels' 
reappearance ; has entered into the following agreement with the 
aforesaid captains, in the name of their respective owners, viz :— 

" Art. 1. — It shall be left at the option of the said Lewis Ver- 
net, Esqr., to determine which of the two vessels shall proceed on 
said sealing voyage ; which he shall determine within twenty-four 
hours aftes this agreement has been signed, and state his choice in 
an additional article at the foot of this agreement, — then the skins 
now belonging to such vessel, shall be deposited in the hands of Mr. 
Vernet, and shall share the fate of the vessel to which they belong, 
with respect to condemnation or liberation, in which latter case to 
be delivered to the master of the vessel to which they belonged, or 
to the persons authorised by him to receive them : after which such 
vessel shall be fitted out with all convenient speed with the provi- 
sions, salt, stoves and sealing implements of both vessels, and be 
manned with such men as the master of such sealing vessel shall 
consider best calculated for sealing, and may be able to obtain; 
the whole ship's company signing for the purpose such ship's arti- 
cles as the fulfilment of this agreement shall require. 

" Art. 2. — The vessel thus equipped and ready for sea, shall 
proceed from hence direct through the Straits of Magellan to the 
sealing ground, on the West coast of South America, where, ac- 
cording to information obtained from Capt. Low of the brig Adeona 
and from part of his crew left on this island, great quantities of fur 
seal were lately seen by them ; and, for the better finding of which 
place it is mutually agreed upon by the contracting parties to em- 
ploy Clarke as pilot, — the same having lately belonged to the 

Adeona, and considering himself competent to find the place ; and 
the vessel after having obtained the cargo of seal skins, or done her 
best to obtain one, shall, at the end of the season, return direct to 
Port Louis (dangers of the seas only excepted) and anchor in the 
basin where she now lays ; then the voyage shall be considered as- 
ended, and the vessel and cargo to be delivered up to Mr. Vernet 
upon the condition stated in the following article. 



7b 



PAPERS. 



* e Art. 3. — It is understood by the two contracting parties, that 
the said intended sealing voyage shall be for account of Mr, Ver- 
net if the vessels are condemned, and for the owners in America if 
not condemned, viz. : one half for each owner in America, and 
whether condemned or not condemned, the skins shall be counted, 
and the ship's company shall then immediately receive in skins the 
share that according to the ship's articles are due to them ; after 
which, Mr. Vernet obligates himself, according as the result of the 
trial, that is to take place in Buenos Ayres, may be, that is in case 
of liberation, to deliver the remaining skins (that is the whole, less 
the quantity delivered to the ship's company according to the ship's 
articles) to the captain of the vessel, as lawful agent of both own- 
ers in America, and in case of condemnation, Mr. Vernet shall keep 
said remaining skins ; and, in order to avoid differences and doubts 
arising lrom unforeseen events, as well as to secure more expedi- 
tiously the pay of the ship's company at all events, (save dangers 
of the seas) ; it is also understood, that if, after a trial in Buenos 
Ayres, there should be a decision different from a full condemna- 
tion or a full liberation of both vessels and cargoes, such as, that 
only one vessel being condemned and the other liberated, or the 
vessels liberated and the cargoes condemned, or the vessels con- 
demned and the cargoes liberated, or one or more parts being li- 
berated on the payment <of a sum of money, being imposed by the 
court that tried them in Buenos-Ayres, or the like unforeseen 
events, in that case the sealing voyage shall be considered as hav- 
ing been made, one half for account of Mr. Vernet^ and the other 
half for account of the owners in America, and the skins to be di- 
vided accordingly, each paying previously to the ship's company 
in Port Louis the pay due according to the ship's articles, consti- 
tuting thus a full pay. 

" Art. 4. — The master ef the sealing vessel shall obligate him- 
self by a solemn oath, that he will neither by word or deed, in any 
manner or shape, do on this present voyage any thing that can 
compromise the interest of Mr. Vernet in the responsibility that 
he has taken upon himself, by the delivery of the vessel to said 
master for the intended voyage ; but rather to counteract any evil 
disposition that might perhaps be displayed or suspected in others 
under his command, which obligation he will act up to in good 
faith, without seeking excuses ; in short, to be guided by the prin- 
ciple ' to do as he would be done by,' and for the easier fulfilling 
of this article, the master will endeavor as much as possible to 
avoid a communication with other sealers on this present voyage, 
unless he should meet any in distress, or be in distress himself, and 
he shall not be required by Mr. Vernet to do any thing on this 
voyage that is in any way unlawful. 



PAPERS. 



79 



U Art. 5. — This agreement shall not invalidate the right that 
the owners in America might think they have to claim damages, 
whicKclaim of damages shall, however, with respect to skins, not 
exceed two thousand five hundred prime fur seal skins, for each of 
the two vessels, in case the sealing vessel gets no skins at all ; but 
if she gets any skins, then the above number shall be lessened ac- 
cording to the number that she may have acquired on the present 
voyage. 

" Art. 6.— The sealing vessel, being then delivered into the 
hands of the master, with a crew of his own choice, without fur- 
ther security than his word, any wilful deviation from this agree- 
ment (of which at present there is not the most distant idea,) shall 
be considered a breach of faith ; and no laws shall liberate him 
from the penalty and forfeitures incurred according to the follow- 
ing article. 

" Art. 7. — For the true and faithful fulfilment of this agreement, 
the contracting parties, Captain Stephen Congar and Captain Gil- 
bert R. Davison, for themselves, and in the names of their owners, 
oil the one part, and Mr. Lewis Vernet on the other part, solemnly 
bind themselves in the penal sum of five thousand dollars, and the 
forfeiture of their respective shares in the voyage alluiied to in 
this document ; which forfeitures shall be applicable in favor of 
the part that fulfils the agreement. 

" Given under our hands and seals in Port Louis,East Falk- 
( land Island, this eighth day of September, one thousand 
* eight hundred and thirty-one. 

GILBERT R. DAVISON, [seal.] 
STEPHEN CONGAR. [seal.] 
LEWIS VERNET. [seal,] 
" Signed, sealed and delivered in presence of 
John Trumbull, > 
Matthew Brisbane. £ 
" A dditional Article 1st, — I, Lewis Vernet, mentioned in the 
foregoing document, have, in conformity to the first article of said 
agreement, determined, and do hereby determine, that the schooner 
Superior, Captain Stephen Congar, shall be the vessel that is to 
proceed upon the intended sealing voyage. In Port Louis the year, 
day and date before mentioned. 

LEWIS VERNET. 
"Additional Article 2d. — I, Stephen Congar, approve the 
choice made of my vessel ; and oblige myself to act according 
as h} stipulated in the foregoing agreement for the master of the 
therein named sealing vessel to act, and hereby make the oath 
required in the fourth article of said agreement ; and I, Gilbert R. 
D: ivison, also approve of the said choice, and do hereby obligate 
w,yself to act for, and in the cause of both vessels in Buenos Ay res, 

1 i 



PAPERS. 



according to the best of my judgment, by myself or by my power 
of attorney. In truth whereof we have each signed the second 
additional article, in Port Louis this eighth day of September, one 
thousand eight hundred and thirty-one. 

GILBERT R. DAVISON, 
STEPHEN CONGAR, 
John Trumbull, > Witnesses " 
Matthew Brisbane. $ 

All the clauses in this contract manifest the entire and absolute 
liberty with which these captains signed it. The idea did not 
emanate from me ; it was a proposal made to me by them. They 
themselves selected the crew from among those of both vessels, 
and even took various individuals of the colonists. And indeed, 
how would it have been possible for me to force them to such an 
act, as the Charge d'Affaires asserts, — and what were those suf- 
ferings and those imprisonments which could produce the moral 
co- action ? However certain these supposed sufferings might have 
been, they never could have exceeded those which they would en- 
tail on themselves by becoming my slaves — yes, slaves, for so it 
has pleased the Charge d'Affaires to represent them — slaves who 
were to be employed in painful labor solely for my personal ad- 
vantage. To believe that the contract was the effect of coertion, 
it is necessary to suppose that these captains were either children 
or imbeciles. Above all, Excellent Sir, it is an absolute contradic- 
tion to suppose that I kept these persons imprisoned and oppress- 
ed, and that at the same time I induced and forced them to an 
agreement, in virtue of which they were to cease to suffer, liberate 
themselves from my oppression, go to sea without any other guar- 
antee than their own good faith, and, in short, become masters of 
themselves. It would appear that in politics as well as in the bu- 
siness of private life, the bias of the heart banishes reflection from 
the mind, and produces striking inconsistencies. 

The idea that, in the celebration of this contract, coertion of any 
species whatsoever had been resorted to, being thus removed, I 
will now shew, first, that the contract was at once useful to the co- 
lony, to the captains and to the crews : and secondly, that I could 
enter into it without either swerving from my duty or degrading my 
public character. 

It was useful. The primary advantage resulting from this mea- 
sure to the colony was that of removing from it persons who might 
be prejudicial to it, and changing their then hostile disposition into 
a friendly one, by attaching them to its interests. The colony was 
not strong enough to enforce respect from the crews of both ves- 
sels, w T hich, after the attempt previously made at revolt, necessa- 
rily required my utmost vigilance. Strictly speaking, I had at that 
time in all the colony only 20 men, natives of the country, in whom 



PAPERS 



81 



I could place confidence. It was not prudent to confide too much 
in the rest of my colonists, since the greater part of them were 
easily open to seduction, in consequence not only of their speaking 
the same language as the crews of the captured vessels, but like- 
wise because many of them were countrymen. Thus it is, that 
during the detention of the crews, those 20 men had to mount 
guard over them at night, for which they were paid a silver dollar 
per night each. This continual and painful fatigue in the snowy 
season, and during the excessively long nights of that latitude, pro- 
duced in them weariness and want of vigor, and necessarily caused 
them to abandon the labors of the colony during the day. It be- 
came, therefore, absolutely necessary to relieve it from such an 
unnatural and ruinous state of things. Happily it was under these 
circumstances that the captains made their proposal, and this pro- 
posal presented to me the best opportunity to get rid of these pre- 
sumed enemies, in the manner which they themselves desired and 
solicited. The second advantage consisted in the positive utility 
which this stipulation would produce to the colony, if (as there 
was every reason to hope,) the Superior should faithfully fulfil her 
agreement ; and in truth, since it was undeniable that these schoo- 
ners had been engaged in a business from which they knew they 
were prohibited under pain of confiscation ; since in the contract 
the captains themselves had confessed this most essential point, 
the following proposition became to me not a mere hope, but an 
absolute certainty. These vessels, together with their cargoes, 
must necessarily be declared lawful prizes in Buenos Ayres, (and 
experience has since proved it to be so,) consequently I had aright 
and ought to calculate upon the secure foundation that these ves. 
sels, together with their cargoes, would eventually become the pro- 
perty of the colony, and I said to myself, a long time must elapse 
before the trial relative to the captures be concluded in Buenos 
Ayres, (and experience has shown that neither in this was I de- 
ceived) ; in this interval these vessels and their cargoes will be 
laid up and rot (as is the case at present with the Harriet,) in the 
roads of Buenos-Ayres ; it is therefore better that in the mean 
time one of the vessels be employed in the seal 7 fjshery in the Pa- 
cific, and that the other go direct with me and one of the captains 
to Buenos Ayres, for the purpose of bringing on and concluding 
the trial in question. This was done, and done at the request of 
the only persons who, under any other circumstances, might have 
had reason to complain of it ; it was done, too, for their own bene- 
fit, Your Excellency will observe that, according to the contract, 
the cargo which the Superior might obtain would belong to the co- 
lony, should the vessels be declared lawful prizes, or to the owners, 
should they not be condemned ; and, in either case, the crew were 
to xeceive their share. It is evident, therefore, that such a con- 



82 *APEfcS. 

tract far from being prejudicial, in the slightest degree, was on the 
contrary highly beneficial to the owners of the vessels ; because* 
if they were declared to have been illegally detained, they could 
lose nothing by this voyage ; and, in the contrary case, they would 
be considerable gainers. It was highly beneficial to these cap- 
tains and their crews ; for, instead of being detained in the islands, 
they put to sea in perfect liberty ; and instead of consuming in 
idleness the long space of time the trial might require, they would 
be earning a good salary. I believe that even the greatest idiot 
would form this conclusion, and that, on perusal of the contract, 
the Charge d' Affaires will be undeceived as to my having com- 
pelled these men to work for my own private advantage — he will 
see that the Superior went on her voyage for the benefit of who- 
ever might prove to be the proper owner, and, under all circum- 
stances, for the emolument of the crew. To afford great and cer- 
tain gain, and besides complete liberty to men who could not then, 
nor would, for a long time, be able to earn a single cent, and who 
are represented as having been imprisoned and barbarously op- 
pressed on the island, is an act which ought rather to have excited 
gratitude on the part of the Charge d' Affaires. 

But unfortunately he has not viewed the subject in this light. 
Far from reflecting on the impossibility of loss and the certainty of 
gain, which, in either case, must result to the captain and crew of 
the Superior, he sees nothing but seduction and violence in this 
contract. He even believes he finds the same in the clause which 
imposes penalties on the party who should infringe the agreement 
— penalties which are customary in all such contracts, althoug de- 
nominated by him forfeitures at my discretion. He likewise sees 
seduction and violence in the clause which declares every infrac- 
tion thereof an inexcusable violation of good faith. How differ- 
ent amongst men are the conceptions of the mind ! It appears to 
me, that all must find in this clause and in the oath by which the 
captain bound himself to the due fulfilment thereof, the customary 
form of all agreements, and which was absolutely indispensible in 
that which we entered into in the Malvinas. I had absolutely no 
guarantee whatever that the Superior would fulfil the contract and 
return. Its execution depended entirely on the good faith, on the 
word, On the honor of the Captain ; consequently it was not strange 
nor was it prejudicial to him that this should be expressed in the 
contract. In wKat, then, is this oath opposed to the customs or 
usages of nations } I think likewise that every impartial person, 
on viewing the unbounded confidence with which I allowed to go 
out of my possession a vessel which I considered as the future pro- 
perty of the colony, and at the same time consented ihat the cap- 
tain should select for his crew men in whom he could confide, with 
no other guarantee for his return than the mere oath of said cap. 



PAPERS* 



83 



tain, far from criminating me, and of attributing to me depraved 
intentions, will discover just motives for approving my conduct. 
In fact, Excellent Sir, under the critical and extraordinary circum- 
stances in which the colony was placed at that period, this mea- 
sure saved it from all risk, offered it a prospect of great gain, aft- 
forded the crew profit and employment, and favorably inclined the 
captain and crew. Thus it was, that, scarcely had the contract 
been signed, when all was joy and satisfaction among these men, 
I have in my possession letters from various individuals of the said 
crew, in which, after treating on other matters, they manifest 
their content, and return me thanks for my kind conduct towards 
them. Some of these letters, and others that the same individuals 
addressed to their comrades in Staten Land, were written when 
they were on board of the Superior and out of my power. I have 
also a letter from the captain, written under the same circumstan- 
ces, in which he again requests my commands. Can this be recon- 
ciled with the idea that they were forced to make this voyage ? 

I could legally make this contract. Perhaps the opposite opinion 
of the Charge d' Affaires arises from his complete want of knowledge 
on the subject, although on the other hand, it must always appear 
Strange, that without either privately or officially calling for in- 
formation he should have opened the negociation, by thundering a 
tremendous accusation, w T hich although directed against me per- 
sonally, falls indirectly on the government with whom he is nego- 
ciating. 

Be this as it may, it is essential to establish the facts. By a de- 
cree bearing date of the 5th of January, 1828, the property of the 
waste lands on the island of Soledad was granted to me, on condi- 
tion that I should establish a colony within the term of three years : 
to the colony was granted an exemption of taxes and imposts for 
twenty years, with the enjoyment of the fishery in all the Malvina 
Islands and on the coasts of the continent to the south of the Rio 
Negro. By this it appears that the character of my undertaking 
to colonize the Malvinas was exclusively and essentially mercan- 
tile ; and thus it was that I, with my own capital, and without any 
assistance whatever from the government, had established the co- 
lony and maintained it in the same manner, under the title of Di- 
rector, which was conferred on me by the before-mentioned decree. 
The colony commenced various labors, and entered on the enjoy- 
ment of the rights and privileges so granted. The depredations of 
foreigners on the coasts still went on, and there was no force in the 
colony capable of restraining them, nor was there any public offi- 
cer to protest against them. This state of disorder obliged me to 
require the government to adopt some measures. Accordingly, by 
decree of the 10th of June 1829, it ordered that a civil and mili- 
tary governor of those islands and their adjacencies up to Cape 



84 



PAPERS. 



Horn should be appointed, imposing on him the duty of carrying 
into effect the regulations relative to the seal-fishery. The nomi- 
nation of this charge might have fallen on any other person than 
the Director. But the government, either believing me to be the 
most proper person, or to save the expense of a salary, which, in 
any other case, would have been necessary, thought it expedient 
that the Director of the colony should also be civil and military 
governor ; and, by another distinct decree, although of the same 
date, it nominated me to fill this office. 

The decree which ordered that a governor should be named was 
published by }he press ; but the other under the same date, in 
which I was appointed governor, was not published. This circum- 
stance has doubtless given rise to the idea that I had appropriated 
to myself this title ; if not, how is it possible that the Charge 
d'Affaires should in his note write as he has done, in the belief that 
my character as governor was fictitious ? It is therefore necessa- 
ry that he should be convinced that I am so in reality, and your 
Excellency can give him official knowledge of the fact by trans- 
mitting him a copy of the decree by which I was appointed. 

It is self-evident that the title of governor, which relates to pub- 
lic business, did not divest me of that of Director of the colony, 
which is relative to my private and mercantile undertaking, but 
rather was intended to secure the interests of the enterprize ; it 
did not divest me of that mercantile character, since it was pre- 
cisely for mercantile objects, which were at the same time highly 
beneficial to the country, that I had established the colony, and 
from the moment I should be deprived of the power of acting as di- 
rector and undertaker of it, and of performing acts of commercial 
speculation, the colony would fall to the ground, and the burthen- 
some charge of governor of the islands would be of no utility to 
me. What therefore is the deduction 1 That I could legally 
perform private acts of commerce for the benefit of my colony, in 
the same manner as if I had neveu been invested with the title of 
governor : that the enjoyment of this title solely imposed upon me 
the obligation of carrying into effect within my jurisdiction the 
laws peculiar to the province of Buenos Ayres, as well as those 
relating to the fishery : that I could enter into the contract refer- 
red to, inasmuch as it was a private speculation, and that conse- 
quently the Charge d'Affaires has been egregiously mistaken in 
believing that I degraded both my government and my public cha- 
racter by entering into mercantile enterprizes, since I could con- 
sistently do so. He is likewise mistaken when he believes that I 
}iad some concealed intention, when in the contract I styled my- 
self Director, and not Governor, as I made that contract precisely 
as Director and not as Governor. 



PAPERS. 



85 



Your Excellency is now enabled to judge whether there exists 
even the semblance of justice in all that Mr. Baylies has advanced 
in this charge — whether he is entitled to accuse me of any ,act 
really reprehensible, or, still less, to insult me — and whether, with 
regard to my person, he is not bound in duty to alter his opinions, 
as well as the language which he has unfortunately adopted to ex- 
press them. 

Charge 4. — " I sent to Rio de Janeiro all the crew of the 
" Harriet with the exception of five men who entered into my 
" service." 

I have already spoken on this point ; I have shewn the necessity 
which existed for the removal of these men, which was effected 
with their own free will and with the consent of their captains.-— 
There only remains for me to add that these five men were at com- 
plete liberty : they were already on board the Elbe, under the 
British flag, and on the eve of sailing for Rio de Janeiro : their 
names were inscribed in the passport. Under these circumstances, 
they returned on shore and solicited permission to enter into the 
service of the colony : I consented to it, and contracted with them : 
they commenced their labors, and requested some advances which 
I made them; when suddenly they entered into the service of an 
English ship bound for the Pacific, leaving me unpaid and with the 
loss of all I had supplied them with. 

Charge 5. — " The Superior had left seven men on Staten 
" Land with provisions for only six months, and owing to her 
" detention in the Malvinas, they were exposed to perish on 
" that desolate island, as the Superior was bound in this con- 
" tract to go and return direct, to avoid all communication 
" with other vessels, and to take no step to succor these men." 
In the first place, Your Excellency will be pleased to remark, 
that the Island of Staten Land, is within the jurisdiction of my go- 
vernment, and Your Excellency will perceive that it is for this 
reason, that the Charge d'Affaires has remained silent as to the ob- 
ject for which these men were left there. The Superior left them 
previously to her detention, that they might employ themselves in 
killing seals and storing up the skins ; that is to say, for a prohibi- 
ted and clandestine occupation. Your Excellency, who has before 
you the contract, will judge of the correctness of the assertion that 
the Superior was prohibited from succoring them ; when the only 
prohibition existing was, " that she should not communicate with 
other sealing vessels," and even to this she was not bound in case 
of accident or distress. So far Was I from wishing to prevent these 
men from receiving assistance, that, after the Superior had sailed 
to the South, I sent the Harriet to succor them, as well as to col- 



86 



PAPERS. 



lect various articles which were scattered about the island ; all with 
the express consent of Capt. Davison, with whom, on the 16th of 
September, I signed an agreement to that effect. According to 
this agreement, the Harriet, which was to sail under the command 
of Capt. Brisbane accompanied by Davison, should, at the same 
time, bring from different parts, there designated, seal skins, tim- 
ber, &c. &c, on my account ; but I was to pay Davison no less 
than seven and a half per cent on all he should bring, as also the 
wages of the master at the rate of forty two dollars per month, the 
mate thirty, together with seven seamen and eight guards at fifteen 
hard dollars each. Such, Sir, were the contracts with which I 
swindled these captains, and made them labor for my benefit. — 
Know then, Your Excellency, that the cause which impeded the 
succoring of these seven Americans (as appears in the process) was 
an American schooner from New York, the Elizabeth Jane, which, 
although only a fishing vessel, was illegally armed with six guns : 
she, when she fell in with the Harriet, proposed to take her by force 
and thus liberate her from the detention she was under. Davison 
opposed this, pointing out the probable consequence which might 
result therefrom, as Brisbane would resist by fighting to the last 
extremity. The Elizabeth Jane, notwithstanding, clearly appeared 
preparing to carry her project into execution, and thus obliged the 
captain of the Harriet to return immediately to the colony, in or- 
der to avoid a greater evil, without being able to accomplish the 
principal object of his voyage, viz., the succor of those men ; and 
thus I lost in wages alone four hundred hard dollars. Since the 
Charge d' Affaires has mentioned this affair, he ought not to have 
remained silent on the principal part of it, nor to have dissembled 
the criminal conduct of the Elizabeth Jane — yes, criminal ; and 
thus it is that, to evade the effects of the remonstrance Your Excel- 
lency might make to the Government of the United States, scarce- 
ly had this vessel arrived at New York when she was advertised 
for sale in a journal of that city under date of the 7th of March. 

No less remarkable is the want of correctness with which he as- 
serts that the Superior left provisions with those men for only six 
months ; when the captain of that vessel positively stated that he 
had provisioned them for nine months : and that he did so is clear- 
ly shewn by the log-book of the vessel, which is in my possession. 
This is also corroborated by the following incident : Captain Dun- 
can of the Ship-of-war Lexington, committed the incivility of sail- 
ing from these roads for Malvinas, without waiting for a reply from 
Your Excellency ; which, I may be allowed to say by the way, was 
really acting in contempt of the established usages of nations. Mr. 
Slacum, then Consul, in a note which he addressed to Your Excel- 
lency, endeavored to excuse this want of courtesy in Duncan, under 
pretence of the urgent necessity which existed of rendering assis- 



PAPERS. 



SI 



taiice to the men left on Staten Land. Any one would naturally 
conclude from this, that the first care of Duncan was to sail direct, 
and without losing an instant, to the succor of these men. But the 
fact is, that he went to Port Louis, and occupied himself in the he- 
roic achievement of destroying in a vandalic manner the colony 
established there, and imprisoning and enchaining a few unarmed 
and unsuspecting Argentines. It was not till twenty days after his 
arrival at that place, that he recollected the urgent necessity which 
had obliged him to leave these roads ; he then sent the schooner 
Dash to the assistance of the men, but not direct to Staten Land, 
as she had orders to touch first at various other islands, on the mer- 
cantile business of some American citizens. These islands being to 
leeward, must necessarily have detained the Dash a long time ; so 
that we are ignorant up to this day whether or not those seven men 
ever received assistance. This feet shews how insignificant is the 
parade with which the Charge d'AfFaires wishes to represent the 
great danger to which those men were exposed. > 

Besides, had they perished, the blame would rest with the Su- 
perior only. She had left them there, knowing that the business 
in which she was engaged was illegal — that what has happened, 
might befall her ; and that in this event they would be abandoned. 

Above all, was it because these men might be exposed to danger, 
(which, as I have said, was not the case,) that I should abstain from 
detaining the Superior ? In this mode, any vessel could elude all 
prohibitions and forfeitures, by merely leaving on some island a 
part of her crew, as she could not be detained under the pretence 
that in the mean time they might perish for want. In fine, Sir, the 
fact is that the urgency of the succor which Mr. Slacum represent- 
ed in his note, forms a striking contrast with the calmness and in- 
difference with which the captain of the Lexington viewed these 
men ; and hence I infer that either the latter rendered himself 
highly criminal by such apathy, or there was no truth in the urg- 
ent necessity of succor for want of provisions, which Mr. Slacum 
then deceitfully affirmed, and the Charge d'AfFaires now errone- 
ously insinuates. 

Charge 6. — " I endeavored to seduce American seamen 
" from their own flag, and allure them to mine by the promise 
M of extravagant gain." 

This charge is reduced to the assertion that / endeavored. But 
what are the deeds that the Charge d'AfFaires relates ? Absolutely 
none — and therefore, as this aereal charge does not rest upon any 
determined deed, it is not susceptible of a positive refutation, ft 
will consequently suffice for me to affirm that neither the Charge 
d'AfFaires nor any other person, can reproach me with a deed of 

12 



FAPERS. 



that nature. Constantly opposed to desertion, far from endeavor* 
ing to seduce any seamen, whether Americans or of any other na- 
tion, I have invariably followed the system of not admitting any 
of the many who frequently presented themselves to me in the Mai- 
vinas, without the previous and express consent of the daptain of 
the vessel to which they belonged. If I admitted the five men of 
the Harriet, alluded to, it was because they did not belong to any 
vessex. 

Charge 7. — " I imprisoned without any consideration the 
" four Americans whom the Charge d' Affaires mentions as 
" forming a part of the crew of the American schooner Bel- 
" ville, which had been wrecked on the coast of Tierra del 
" Fuego : I seized a large number of seal-skins which I sold 
" to an English vessel, and a quantity of whalebone which>! 
rt transmitted to Buenos Ayces. >; By threatening these im- 
" prisoned and friendless shipwrecked men with sending them 
" to Buenos-Ayres to be tried as pirates, 1 obliged them to 
" sign an agreement on behalf of themselves and other ship- 
" mates of theirs, who were on Eagle Island, occupied in 
a building a shallop, in which it was stipulated that as soon as 
" the shallop was completed, they should employ themselves 
" wi^h her in the seal-fishery under the Argentine flag. Not 
" satisfied with seizing their property and treating them as 
" slaves, I wished to reduce them to a degree of moral debase- 
u merit as low as my own ; inasmuch as, in another article,. 
" after ironically binding them to act as honest men, I would 
„" induce them to the commission of acts of violence and rob- 
" bery on their own countrymen, by promising to share with 
" them the profits arising from* the plunder of the vessels. 
" In this mode I compelled individuals belonging to the cap- 
" tured vessels to engage in my service, and even to assist in 
" the capture of their own countrymen. On one occasion I 
" endeavored to subdue an American seaman by the name of 
" Crawford, who resisted my persuasions, threats and impri- 
" sonment, by depriving him of food, and he would have pe- 
" rished, had not Capt. Davison secretly relieved him, in defi. 
" ance of my orders." 

I will remark in the first place that these men were five and not 
four, as the Charge d'Affaires says ; only two belonged to the 
Belville which was wrecked, the other three had belonged to dif- 
ferent crews, and had successively remained on the islands. Con- 
sequently it is incorrect that they were all shipwrecked men, and 
it is no less so that they were abandoned ; inasmuch as all of them 
lived on the islands of their own free will, and so much so, that, 
according as their accusers affirmed, they had refused a passage 
for their own country, which had been offered to them. 



PAPERS. 



69 



It is true that I arrested them. But why does the Charge d* Af- 
faires conceal the motives? I arrested these American citizens, 
because other American citizens accused them as dangerous per- 
sons and of a piratical disposition : among these accusers Captains 
Congar jand Davison, particularly the latter, distinguished them- 
selves. I have in my possession their affidavits. Therefore, if 
the imprisonment of these Americans was an injustice, it was owing 
to the calumny of other Americans. 

But the Charge d'Affaires calls me an oppressor, a robber, and a 
base being, for my conduct towards them. Your Excellency will 
judge : I did not harbor the least feeling of rancour, nor could i do 
so against men who had never oifendecl me, and whom I then saw 
for the first time in my life ; and thus it is, that one of them having 
requested me to allow him to depart in the Elbe, I immediately con- 
sented ; and he went in her. So true is it that I acted in conse- 
quence of those formal accusations, and not in virtue of threats, to 
which I had no occasion to resort ; that my conduct towards them 
was not only just, but likewise generous. And in truth, it being a 
fact that they had been fishing within my jurisdiction ; and it being 
equally certain that their own countrymen accused them as pirates, 
I could with justice confiscate their skins and their whalebone, and 
send them to this city to be tried. But I refused to augment their 
misfortunes ; and the acts imputed to them not having been clearly 
proved, I resolved to set them at liberty, and thus to convert these 
then vagrants, but at the same time hardy and laborious men, into 
useful members of the colony, by attaching them to it for their own 
interest. These men, weighing the advantages which might accrue 
io them from this measure, against the evils resulting from the wan- 
dering life they were leading, requested to be admitted as members 
of the colony, and consequently under the Argentine flag. We 
then entered into an agreement, which to them was highly benefi- 
cial, and which, for that reason, I never suspected would draw down 
on me such bitter and painful insults as those now fulminated against 
me by the Charge d'Affaires. By this agreement, I bound myself 
to render them every assistance, in the buildiqg of a small schooner 
or shallop, which they were constructing in a distant island, called 
Eagle Island ; and when finished, to allow them, as members of 
the colony, to fish under the Argentine flag, on shares. Such was 
the agreement which is now so strongly declaimed against. Is 
there any thing in it usurious, compulsive or extraordinary ? The 
fact is that when the crew of the Harriet' were already on board 
the Elbe, and on the eve of sailing for Rio Janeiro, one of these 
passengers requested to be admitted in the number of the supposed 
unfortunate shipwrecked seamen, and to participate in the advanta- 
ges of the agreement referred to : he was admitted ; and signed it. 
Fulfilling on my part the stipulation, I gave them sails, rigging. 



MO 



PAPERS. 



provisions, and in short every thing requisite for finishing the con- 
struction of the vessel, but as they had no one to become bound 
for their conduct, and guaranty to me the fulfilment of their part 
of the agreement, they delivered to me, as security, one hundred 
and ninety -eight seal-skins, and two thousand seven hundred and 
forty-four pounds of whalebone, of which articles I could dispose 
freely, as I did. But the Charge d' Affaires is mistaken if he thinks 
that for this the men were deprived of these effects, or that I ap- 
propriated them to myself, as he asserts. They did not lose them 
— they had then no possibility of disposing of these articles — they 
were embarrassing to them rather than useful, and their preserva- 
tion was expensive and difficult. They therefore ceded them to 
me, but I bound myself expressly to return them, in the same kind, 
and quantity, from the half which would belong to me of the pro- 
duct of the fishing which was to be undertaken by the schooner. 
Is this robbing, Excellent Sir ? Is this committing oppression or 
violence 1 Can the slightest trace of good faith be discovered in 
the persons who have so basely and deceitfully informed the 
Charge d'Aflaires on this head ? Does my frank and generous con- 
duct towards these individuals merit the infamous invectives which 
he lavishes so profusely against me ? Sir, reason and the mu- 
tual respect which men owe to each other in society, counsel the 
dissembling even of the most gross aberrations of the mind ; but 
with respect to deeds, and to deeds which profoundly wound what 
man most appreciates, honor, it is necessary that he be conscious 
of his guilt to be able to tolerate them, in like manner as it is> ne- 
cessary to be deeply prejudiced in order to alledge them without 
proofs. 

Such was my conduct towards these individuals, which has 
brought on me the epithets of vile, robber and oppressor. These 
men were contented and satisfied with their new state under the 
flag of the Republic, and so well disposed to fulfil the obligations 
they had contracted, that, as soon as the vessel was ready, they 
returned to the port of the colony to receive new outfits and pro- 
visions, which were furnished to them. They would have fulfilled 
them faithfully, but for the infamous aggression committed by the 
Lexington. Here it is not superfluous to state that Capt. Duncan 
seized on the shallop, obliged her to change her flag, and thus de- 
prived the colony and the Republic of a vessel which Your Ex- 
cellency has a right to demand the restitution of. Why is the 
Charge d'Affaires silent with respect to this usurpation ? 

But he affirms that in this way I induced and obliged American 
citizens to capture, and what he terms to plunder, the vessels and 
persons of their countrymen. This is not true. To effect the de- 
tention of the Harriet, Superior and Breakwater, no one was 
either induced or forced ; nor had I occasion to resort to these 



PAPERS 



93 



means. All the individuals, as well Americans as of other nations, 
who assisted in the taking of these vessels, did so of their own ac- 
cord, and because it suited their interests ; they were all members 
of the colony, and, as such, participators in the prizes. Now the 
fishery was a property of the colony, and if all who composed it 
had a right in the property sequestered, to make those Americans 
who were on the list of colonists partakers in it, was not to induce 
them to rob their countrymen, but to exercise an act of rigorous 
justice which could not be denied them from the time they became 
members of the colony. 

For the rest, Sir, to detain myself in replying to the idle story 
relative to the seaman Crawford, whom it is said I attempted to 
starve to death, were almost to insult Your Excellency's under, 
standing— as though, had I harbored so ferocious a design, means 
or pretexts would be wanting to me for carrying it into effect more 
decorously j in my character of Governor! And from what mo- 
tive ? Because he resisted the promises, threats and imprisonment 
by which I endeavored to compel him to assist in the capture of the 
vessels. Less wonderful would have been the supposed heroism of 
Crawford, than my stupidity in endeavoring to force into my ser- 
vice a man for whom I had no necessity, and in whom, from his re- 
luctance to serve, I could have no confidence, but must always have 
considered dangerous. It is fit that Your Excellency should know 
that the supposed hero assisted like the rest in the capture of the 
Harriet — he would not afterwards assist to capture the other ves- 
sels, and, not only did not the least injury result to him therefrom, 
but he was preferred to go to the Pacific in the Superior. This is not 
all : he not only remained in and went freely from the islands, but 
the debts he had there contracted were paid by me out of my 
pocket. What a contrast does this conduct form with that which 
is ascribed to me ! 

But an observation occurs to me here which I must not omit. 
If, in consequence of this entirely disproved and utterly false as- 
sertion, the Charge d'Affaires thinks it his duty to grossly insult me, 
with how much justice can Your Excellency answer him with the 
completely proved fact of the ferocious brutality with which the 
captain of the Lexington treated the innocent colonists, destroying 
their little property, dragging them from their homes, and carrying 
them with him in chains for entire months, like infamous robbers. 
Oh ! the Charge d'Affaires says nothing about this. Is it that in 
Vernet every thing is crime, and in Duncan all heroism ? To 
deeds of that magnitude and certainty the Charge d'Affaires should 
have confined himself in his accusations, instead of letting himself 
be diverted by silly tales, such as the supposed design of killing 
Crawford. But enough of this. There are insignificancies that 
are not, even in the trivial transactions of life, deserving thenoticr 



92 



PAPERS. 



of men of sense ; and much less in an affair with which are in- 
timately connected the high interests of two nations. 

Charge 8. — " According to declarations which I have 
" made as a public functionary, if they are to be viewed as 
" the sentiments of my government, there is reason to beiieve 
" that a project is in contemplation, involving one of the most 
" valuable interests of the United States — the whale-fishery 
" — for, according to the report made by Capt. Davison, I had 
" determined to capture all American vessels, including whale 
" ships as well as those engaged in taking seals, upon the arri- 
" val of an armed schooner, for which I had contracted. I 
" also declared that my special victims would be citizens of 
" the United States, and not of other nations, inasmuch a£ 
" when I was told that the English vessel * Adeona,' was tak- 
" ing seals within my jurisdiction, I replied that I could not 
" capture an English vessel with the same propriety that I 
" could an American." 

If there were the least truth in this charge, the complaint would 
be founded,and the pertinent remarks which the Charge d' Affaires 
subjoins on the injustice and dangers of odious preferences among 
nations, would be well applied. But happily there is nothing but 
utter falsehood in all the information that has been given to the 
Charge d' Affaires. I have never made such absurd declarations t 
for I have never been out of my senses. 

The vessel for which I had contracted was not intended for this 
purpose, although Davison assured Capt. Duncan in the Malvinas 
that she was. To convince Duncan of the falsehood of Davison's 
assertion, Capt. Brisbane, the director of the fishery, showed the 
contract which I had made with an American house m this capital, 
upon which Duncan became silent. It would appear that the 
Charge d' Affaires was unaware of this circumstance. But why does 
he conceal the place from whence this vessel was to come ? Why 
does he not say that it was New- York ? Was it to make the refuta- 
tion of this charge more difficult ? He is deceived. I refer to the 
testimony of the American house with whom I contracted ; for, 
although it may be now unfriendly to me, on account of the respon. 
sibility which it has incurred for the non-fulfilment of the contract, 
nevertheless, I am confident that it will not fail to declare the tmth. 
that is, that the vessel was to come out equipped for the seal-fishe- 
ry on account of the colony, and not armed. 

It is untrue that the " Adeona" had fished within my jurisdic- 
tion. She did so before my appointment as governor, but after 
that period she abstained therefrom, as I can prove by written 
vouchers which I have in my possession, as well as the log-books of 
the " Breakwater," " Harriet" and " Superior," by which it ap- 



PAPERS. 



93 



pears that there was not then fishing in the islands any English 
vessel, or vessels of any other nation. Consequently, although I 
might have wished to exercise foolish preferences, I had not the 
opportunity of so doing. 

For the rest, the Charge d'Affaires is aware that the govern- 
ment with whom he is treating knows its own rights and those of 
others — that it is not so foolish as to attempt to hinder any nation 
from the whale-fishery on the high seas — that therefore there ex- 
ists no such project, nor the intention of limiting to the Americans 
alone the prohibition of fishing within the established bounds, but 
that this prohibition is extensive to all nations, saving the right of 
the Republic to make to any of them special concessions, if it 
should at any time think it expedient. In consequence, as the 
charge is reduced in this part merely to unfounded apprehensions, 
I consider that the Charge d'Affaires will dismiss them after a decla- 
ration to this effect. 

Charge 9th and last. — " The decree of my appointment 
<' as governor bears the date of the 10th of June 1829, and it 
" remained as a dead letter to the North Americans until 
" the 30th of July 1831. The Charge" d'Affaires of the U. S. 
" in this city, Mr. Forbes, died here on the 14th June 1831, and 
■* the acts of violence and depredation on American property 
4< commenced at the Malvinas immediately on the arrival there 
" of the news of his decease. 1 was convinced that if I com- 
" mitted such atrocities while Mr. Forbes was alive, they 
41 would have roused him from the apathy with which he be- 
" held that decree, which had entailed so many injuries on 
*' hisf ellow-citizens, and of which his government, till this day 
" has not been officially informed. Had I confined myself to 
u the capture of the vessels, and to the institution of process- 
" es before the competent tribunal, with the view of ascer- 
* taining whether the laws and sovereignty of this country 
«' had been violated or not, I would have acted within the li- 
" mits of the authority which had been entrusted to me ; 
" yet, in the view of the government of the United States^ 
' •< even thi3 would have been an essential violation of its 
♦< rights." 

Your Excellency will have observed, that, in relation to several 
charges, the Charge d'Affaires, in the absence of data, or precise 
and determinate facts, has recurred to conjectures and inferences, 
which, for the reason that they are not supported by any proof, 
scarcely deserve notice. Of this character are those which con- 
stitute this charge ; and in it, as in the rest, all that does not suit 
the purposes of the author, is kept silent. In effect, the Charge 



94 



papers;. 



d'Affaires adverts to the wholly casual and accidental circumstance 
of the detention of the vessels in the Malvinas having commenced 
shortly after the death of Mr. Forbes in this city ; but he entirely 
overlooks the fact that in November 1330, and in January and May 
1831, that is to say, during the life of Mr. Forbes, these very 
same vessels were warned that if they continued fishing within my 
jurisdiction, they would be confiscated together with their cargoes, 
if the circumstance of the detention of the vessels and the demise 
of Mr. Forbes having been coetaneous had not been a mere casu- 
alty, — if it were certain that th e apprehension that these depreda- 
tions might rouse him from his apathy, was what kept me back 
from practising them during his life, it would also have made me 
abstain from giving those warnings : for, if the act of capturing 
those vessels was unlawful, so was that of notifying them that such 
capture would take place. I caused the circular containing that 
notification to be published in the journals of this city entitled the 
Gaceta Mercantil and British Packet, in October 1830. He who 
dreads that his actions be known, never avows publicly and with 
anticipation his intention of performing them. Above all, it would 
have been a miserable puerility in me to wait, as the Charge d'Af- 
faires says, till there should be no Representative of the United 
States in Buenos Ayres, in order to commit my atrocities in the 
Malvinas ; inasmuch as, although Mr. Forbes should be wanting, 
there would not fail to be some one to substitute him, and the go- 
vernment of the United States would not fail to be acquainted 
with them and remonstrate thereon. The present accusations 
which are directed against me prove the correctness of this re- 
mark. But what is most singular and extraordinary, Excellent 
Sir, is, that the Charge d'AfFaires should affirm that I intentionally 
captured the vessels at a time when there was no one in this city 
to remonstrate against it, when, in the next line, he assures that I, 
as having resided in the United States, know that " no distance 
could smother the voice of just complaint of American seamen 
... . .that its echo would have traversed the wide expanse of the 

ocean-waters which roll between the two hemispheres that 

the government of the United Statess will always cause its flag to 
be respected, whether floating beneath the constellations of the 
North or the South," &c. &c. <fec. How then could he imagine 
that I, being aware of all this, could commit the folly of endea- 
voring to conceal by such stupid means my depredations and my 
tyrannic acts ? 

Had I confined myself, he adds, to capturing the vessels and 
bringing them to trial, I would have acted within the limits of my 
duty. And what else have I done, Excellent Sir ? The imprison, 
ment of various individuals and the sending the " Superior" to 
the southward, were, as I have already stated, acts at once just, 



PAPERS. 



05 



necessary, and even beneficial to the Americans themselves. But 
if the^ Charge means to say by this that I ought to have limited 
myself to the mere capture of the vessels, and that I ought not, 
as governor, to adopt any measures of police and security, even 
when I saw the colony in evident danger ; that neither ought I, 
as Director of a colony, to enter into mercantile speculations, he 
doubtless forgets the primary rights and duties of a government, 
as he also forgets that in my character of Director I could under- 
take commercial operations. The imprisonment, contracts, and 
other measures resorted to subsequently to the capture of the ves- 
sels, were necessary consequences of the bad conduct of Davison, 
likewise subsequent to the said capture. But with respect to the 
vessels, I did no more than what the Charge d'Affaires says I ought 
to have done. I did not confiscate them ; I only captured and de- 
tained them, sending them for trial to Buenos Ayres, where an 
American consul resided who would take cognizance of the busi- 
ness, and besides, I brought here Capt. Davison, who, according to 
the contract, was to answer on the trial for both vessels. This is 
the way in which I acted. Unfortunately Davison absconded 
during the trial, setting at nought the laws of the country, and 
violating his own word of honor ; and the consul, Mr. Slacum, al- 
lowing himself to be carried away inconsiderately, was wanting in 
respect towards Your Excellency, exceeded his authority, and 
wished to give the character of a national insult to that which was 
no more than a strictly private affair, — an affair of contraband — 
and with exaggerated and false reports, he has precipitated his 
government into very disagreeable discussions. The Charge d'Af- 
faires is greatly mistaken when he affirms that my nomination was 
during two years a dead letter to the Americans. It was not so. 
When I returned to Malvinas with the title of governor, and with 
,the special charge to cause the laws relative to the fishery to be 
respected, my first care was to make known the prohibition to all 
the vessels, American or not American, accustomed to occupy 
themselves in fishing. True it is, that prior to my appointment as 
governor, and when I was only the private director of a colony, 
i made known to them the same prohibition : and that, consequent- 
ly, without the necessity of repeating it, I could legally capture 
the Harriet and Superior, in 1829. But I did not choose to do so. 
I determined to give them a second and a solemn warning in my 
character of governor, and I suffered them to depart freely, taking 
with them the produce of their fishery. And is it possible that 
this conduct, in every respect frank, generous and beneficial to the 
North Americans, should now serve as a pretext for accusing me 
0f having allowed my appointment to remain a dead letter ? If, in 
the act of receiving it, and, without waiting for a second intima- 
tion, I had put in execution the duty imposed upon me, and had 



PAPERS. 



captured the vessels, I should be now accused of injustice, precipi- 
tation and an infraction of the usages of nations. But, actuated 
by delicacy and scrupulosity, I declined exercising the powers I 
Was invested with ; and then, on accusing me for enforcing them, 
they very singularly accuse me for not having exercised them ear- 
lier. I do not understand this rare mode of appreciating the ac- 
tions of men. 

If there be any decisive fact in this memorable question — if there 
be any which evidently proves the justice with which I made that 
official intimation, and consequently the justice with which I car- 
ried it into effect when the moment arrived for so doing, it is the 
tacit consent and constant deference which the Honorable Mr. 
Forbes paid to it, as well as to the decree of my appointment. To 
attempt to cause it to be believed in Buenos Ayres that this conduct 
of his was the effect of apathy, is wantonly to throw discredit on a 
venerable tomb. Your Excellency and all Buenos Ayres know 
from many years' experience, the integrity and the zeal of that il- 
lustrious diplomatist ; you know, that, guided by principles of the 
strictest justice, he always supported the interests with which he 
was charged ; and that in his copious official correspondence, he 
never resorted to adulation, nor was he ever wanting in the respect 
due to the government of this country. It was not apathy — no, it 
was the firm conviction he felt of the needlessness of a protest, 
and of the right which this country had to the Malvinas, which 
caused him to view with respectful silence, not only the decree of 
the 10th of June, and my circular alluded to, but likewise many 
anterior acts of dominion exercised by this Republic over those 
islands. 

The Charge d'Affaires says that the decree in question was pre- 
judicial to the interests of the U. S. This map be, but Mr. Forbes 
well knew that utility which may sometimes regulate the actions of 
an individual, was never a just reason for not acknowledging the 
rights of others — he knew, that though the decree might be pre- 
judicial to particular interests, this did not prove the want of right 
to promulgate it. Prejudicial in the highest degree to the general 
commerce of nations was the prohibition imposed by Spain of tra- 
ding with her colonies ; but no nation ever dared to call in ques- 
tion the right she had to impose it. 

For the rest, if the government of the U. S. was not officials- 
informed of this decree, I am ignorant of the reason why its repre- 
sentative here should have omitted communicating it. Further on 
I will revert to this point : for the present I will only remark that 
if this be said as a charge against the government of this country, 
the Charge d'Affaires knows or ought to know that the government 
cannot be taxed with having proceeded in this affair by surprise or 
in the dark. To publish by the press the decree establishing a go- 



PAPERS, 



97 



vernor in the Malvinas, and that too in a city in which there reside 
the representatives of several nations, is undoubtedly to proceed in 
the most frank and public manner that is known. Besides, no prin- 
ciple of the law of nations obliged the government of Buenos Ayres 
to officially inform any nation of a measure essentially economical 
and administrative. The independence and dignity of States 
would be chimerical, if, for every establishment they might propose 
forming on their coasts or in their dominions, and for every prohi- 
bitory law they might think proper to dictate thereon, it were ne- 
cessary for them to give official notice, and wait for the consent of 
foreign Governments. If England should resolve to adopt a similar 
measure respecting any establishment she may raise upon her de- 
sert coasts of the Labrador, will she give previous official notice of 
it to the government of the U. S. ? 

Such, Excellent Sir, are the charges — such the exculpations. — 
I have concluded the refutation of the accusations which are direc- 
ted against me, and notwithstanding Your Excellency's injunction 
to express myself diffusely, I omit many observations and many 
details, because I am convinced that in the discussion of arduous 
affairs, every trifle which is not absolutely necessary, only serves 
to complicate them still more, and to divert the attention from the 
«nly points to which it should be confined. Perhaps this has been 
the object of the Charge d'Affaires on opening the negociation with 
a long list of charges — that is, to divert Your Excellency from 
those which with so much justice you might bring forward. 

But I must not commit to silence certain observations which this 
affair upon the whole, calls for, and which could not have a place 
in the simple and dry analysis of facts to which I have hitherto 
limited myself. 

First — If the consciousness of perfect innocence is not fallacious, 
I think that every impartial person will form an opinion decidedly 
favorable and honorable to my person. To be fully convinced of 
the justice of my proceedings, it is necessary not to lose sight for 
an instant of one powerful consideration. In the common course 
of events there are actions, which, viewed in a false light, and 
shaded with a few cunning strokes of the pencil, appear criminal 
or faulty, but which, if presented with impartiality, and if sincerity 
at the same time show the special circumstances in which the au. 
thor of them was placed, lose their deformity and appear what they 
really are — acts that are necessary, and, as such, just. This is 
mow the case with respect to the loud accusation founded on the 
voyage of the Superior, the confinement of certain men, <fcc. &c. 
These acts are brought forward with ostentation, but nothing is said 
as to who was the cause of them,or of the incidents which preceded 
and accompanied them. To depart, in difficult cases, from the rules 
of action adhered to inordinary events, is fully justified by a sove- 



96 



PAPERS; 



reign law— necessity. This is an universal principle, and profess- 
ed by the Charge d' Affaires himself. 

Your Excellency will be pleased to remark that part of his note? 
in which, speaking incidentally and lightly of the criminal conduct 
of the captain of the Lexington, instead of reprobating an aggres. 
sion which will be an indelible stain on the American flag, he ex- 
presses himself as follows : " A naval officer of sufficient energy 
and patriotism to defend and protect those rights on his own re- 
sponsibility." On his own responsibility ! And why did he take 
it on himself? Doubtless because he thought necessity authorised 
him to do so, and that the circumstances of the case would not al- 
low him time to ask for and receive instructions from his govern- 
ment, which, as is stated in the message to Congress, had only or- 
dered him to afford legal protection to the commerce of American 
citizens. Hence it appears, that, according to the doctrine of the 
Charge d'Affaires himself, circumstances authorize actions, which, 
in ordinary cases, would be very reprehensible ; and even author- 
ize a subaltern not only to swerve from, but even openly to break' 
the positive orders of his government. How, then, can they deny 
to me this same right of acting according to' circumstances ? The 
captain of the Lexington was not forced to this act by circumstan- 
ces — the evil he wished to prevent was already done, neither could 
he repair it with an act of piracy ; he rather rendered the cause 
of his fellow-citizens worse. Notwithstanding all this, the Charge 
d'Affaires approves and even eulogizes a scandalous act, which 
none but the most extraordinary circumstances could in an}^ way 
palliate. And when I, in circumstances really extraordinary and 
urgent, adopted measures a hundred times less ruinous, a hundred 
times less noisy, a hundred times less cruel, I am to be called a 
wretch, a pillager, an oppressor ! Circumstances are to authorize 
the commander of a vessel, on his own responsibility, to resort to 
the most criminal and unnecessary measures for the protection of 
American citizens ; and shall they not authorize the governor of 
a place, on his responsibility, to have recourse to measures custo- 
mary in such cases, and absolutely necessary to the primary ob- 
ject of preserving order and furthering the interests of the esta- 
blishment ? It would appear that in the captain of the Lexington 
that is energy and patriotism, which all civilized people would de- 
nominate an act of piracy : — and in the governor of Malvinas, to 
put down conspiracies, to curb the authors of them, to remove 
them with their own free consent, and to attend to the commercial 
interests of a colony, for the benefit, and to the satisfaction even of 
countrymen of this same commander, is to commit robbery, atro- 
city, oppression and violence ! If men are not to respect a prin- 
ciple common to all, and which regulates the actions of all, the exa- 
mination of these actions will always be arbitrary, and the esti- 



*»APEHS. 



mation of them uncertain ; and that which is termed justice will 
be only a moveable shadow, which will appear under the divers 
forms which the interests or the passions of individuals may give 
to it. 

Second, — In the long series of incidents which the Charge d'Af- 
faires has agglomerated, not one is to be found which is not either 
curtailed or disfigured. In like manner, he relates them without 
deigning to bring forward the proofs which have induced him to 
give credence to them. Who has supplied him with intelligence 
relative to them ? The desire to convince by which (if, by no con- 
sideration, of a higher order,) he ought to be animated, should in- 
duce him to manifest it. If the delinquents themselves, (and it is 
not possible it could be any others,) or those persons who are in- 
terested in this business, he can hardly be possessed of that moral 
conviction which could alone justify the positive manner in which 
he comes forward. On the contrary, as far as 1 am concerned, 
besides having proved, in the papers referred to, a great part of the 
facts here stated, with indestructible documents, and by individuals 
of all nations, even Americans — individuals who have nothing ei- 
ther to hope or fear from me, — I am moreover ready, Excellent 
Sir, to prove in the same manner all the other particulars I have 
now added. But even waiving all this, Your Excellency can pro- 
ceed in this business on a sure basis ; which is, that, in the whole 
history of this affair, the Charge d'Affaires cannot bring forward 
a single act, as transcendental as it is criminal, and as criminal as 
it is undeniable, whilst Your Excellency can with the greatest 
security cite a fact of this nature — the outrage committed by the 
Lexington. Yes, this scandalous aggression, which the Charge 
d'Affaires, who is so extremely zealous of the usages of nations as 
to consider as an infraction of them, an oath administered in a con- 
tract, strangely denominates an act of energy and patriotism. 

Third, — That a diplomatic envoy, yielding to the imperious voice 
of duty, sustain with energy the interests of his nation — that he, 
in the excess of his zeal, so far forgets himself as to use offensive 
expressions, which the customs of nations have justly proscribed, 
— in all this there is, doubtless, nothing uncommon. But that, 
when a private individual is one of the principal objects of a ne- 
gociation, the Representative of a prudent and just nation should 
descend so low as unnecessarily to heap unmerited insults on thai 
individual, which extend even to the government of the country in 
which he resides ; this, although not new in the history of diplo- 
macy, is truly reprehensible and fraught with evil consequences. 
The Charge d'Affaires, occupying a position unassailable to me., 
and to which I cannot ascend to demand from him a legal satisfac- 
tion, borne away by his zeal has thought himself authorised to 
term me a robber, a wretch, an oppressor and a pirate. If it be 



100 



PAPERS. 



possible, I demand a formal trial, where my adversaries may pro- 
duce their proofs, and bring forward the affidavits which I am aware 
they have taken from the crew of the Elbe, the fugitive Davison, 
and others ; but without concealing any of them. This ought to 
be done ; and if my adversaries will not accede to it, they owe me 
a solemn reparation. I detained these vessels, Excellent Sir, in 
fulfilment of the duty which had been imposed on me. I am a pub- 
lic officer of the State — if I am insulted for my official conduct, 
the insult falls likewise on the government which prescribed it. 
As a public officer, as a citizen, as a man, I have a right to pre- 
serve my honor, and if 1 am deprived of demanding personally 
the reparation due it, I consider that Your Excellency is bound to 
do so, and to demand from the government of the United States full 
satisfaction for the insults heaped on me by its Representative. — 
Your Excellency and the dignity of the country over which you 
preside, are compromised in this. When the Charge d'Affaires 
was still in the United States, he might, from a want of informa- 
tion on the subject, think that my title of governor was usurped or 
apocryphal ; but after his arrival in this capital he knew, or he 
ought to have ascertained, that it was real ; and that the stage of 
the business was that the vessels had been declared good prizes by 
the competent tribunal of this country : he therefore knew that in 
speaking of me, he spoke likewise of the authorities of the coun- . 
try who directed my acts, or who authorized them. Consequently, 
if I am a pillager and am a pirate, so also is the tribunal — so also 
is the government itself. 

Fourth, — In my individual opinion, Excellent Sir, it is evident 
that the Charge d'Affaires wanders from the primary and essential 
object of his mission. Not having read his instructions, I judge 
from other data, &c. It is well known that His Excellency the 
President of the United States, in his message to Congress dated 5th 
of last December, in treating of the affair of the Malvinas, expres- 
ses himself in the following terms : "I will, without delay, send a 
Minister charged to investigate the nature of the ocurrences, and 
of the claim if there be any, of the Argentine government to those 
islands." This 'vas just and rational ; this was decorous, and 
worthy of a discreet government. The President, informed of what 
had taken place, says to the legislative body : " prior to coming to 
a definite resolution, it is necessary to be fully informed, as well 
with regard to what has occurred, as to the foundation of the right 
which the Argentine government claims to those islands ; and for 
this precise object, a Charge d'Affaires shall be sent there." As 
there is not the least motive for supposing that the government 
wished to deceive the congress, and infringe public faith, we must 
conclude that the only, or at least the primary object of the mis- 
sion of Mr. Baylies, was to enquire into those particulars. Con- 



PAPBRS. 



101 



sequentiy it was to be expected that his first step in Buenos Ay res. 
would be to demand from Your Excellency a detailed account of 
the occurrences at the Malvinas ; and an exposition of the grounds 
on which this government founded its right to these islanps. — 
Should it result from this enquiry that the U. S. had cause for 
remonstrance or complaint relative to either of the two points, 
then was he to remonstrate or complain. This is what was to 
be expected from the tenor of the message ; and although it had not 
announced it, this is the course which reason should have dictated. 

Who can doubt that prior to remonstrating or complaining 
against an action, or a right, it is indispensable to enquire into, and 
obtain the necessary information relative to it ? With what asto- 
nishment then, must the very opposite conduct of the Charge d'Af- 
faires be viewed ! Instead of investigating and examining into the 
business, he opens the negociation with demands and accusations. 
If he assert that prior to doing so he had acquired the necessary 
knowledge ; this will prove more clearly the necessity he is under 
of naming the persons from whom he received his information.-— 
But be they who they may, it appears to me that his government 
has not sent him to Buenos Ayres to obtain this intelligence from 
simple individuals. If this was the only object, the sending a Mi- 
nister was unnecessary ; as prior to the arrival here of Mr. Baylies, 
the American government was already in possession of these same 
accounts, given by persons under the influence of resentment. It 
sent him in order, that, proceeding according to the practice of na- 
tions, he should require from the Government of Buenos Ayres in- 
formation respecting the two points in question . But he, giving full 
credit to accounts, the major part of which are probably got 
up here by persons of the character before expressed, without any 
previous investigation, without calling for any explanation from 
Your Excellency, as it was natural and expedient he should do, 
commences the negociation by laying down as a fact what he was 
sent here to investigate, and fulminating an accusation, in which, as 
I have already remarked, he comprehends the authorities of the 
country. My astonishment is increased when I hear (as has been 
publicly stated for some days past in this city,) that after the note 
of the 20th of June he has addressed another to Your Excellency, 
in which he states that the report called for from me will be use- 
less, as I have already confessed I detained the said vessels, and it. 
is notorious that the Harriet is still in this port. This is to wish 
every thing to be believed which suits his purposes, setting aside 
the enquiry whether or not the detention was just. If the Chargie 
d'Affaires does not require the information contained in my report, 
Your Excellency may have occasion for it. Nevertheless, it is 
the Charge d'Affaires who stands most in need of it, since he has 
come here to enquire into the nature of that affair, and consequently 



102 



Papers. 



the report is conformable to the object of his mission. Above all. 
— I am the party accused, and it would be the first time, that, even 
in private affairs, the strange doctrine was advanced that it was 
useless to hear the accused party. How many errors are here 
committed at the very opening of the negociation ! Can the just 
government of the United States approve this conduct, and these 
strange principles ? I doubt it. And must I not believe that the 
Charge d'Affaires has entirely mistaken the true object of his 
mission ? 

Fifth, — An anticipated declaration, which I read in the Charge 
d'Affaires' note, confirms me in my opinion. The U. S. have no 
acknowledged right to the Malvinas. Thus it is that the President 
alleges none in the message, nor does Mr. Baylies allege any, in 
his note, but limits himself to lay down as a fact that the fishing 
business in the Malvinas is lawful, and that this Republic cannot 
prohibit it ; that is, to lay down as a fact, the very same thing 
which he comes to enquire into. But to return to the message — 
to this paramount document which the Charge d'Affaires cannot 
deny. I will send a Minister, it says, to enquire into the nature 
of the claims of Buenos Ayres to these islands. This is not the 
language of one who is conscious of being possessed of a right— it 
is that of the prudent man who doubts, and wishes to be informed, 
in order to determine afterwards. 

Now, then, the Charge d'Affaires from the first communication 
which he addressed to Your Excellency, solemnly affirms, that^ 
" he is authorised to declare that his government utterly denies, 
the existence of any right in this Republic to interrupt, molest, 
detain, or capture any vessels belonging to citizens of the U. S. of 
America, or any persons being citizens of those States, engaged in 
taking seals or whales, or any species of fish or marine animal, on 
any of the shores or lands of the Malvinas, Tierra del Fuego^ 
Cape Horn, or any of the adjacent islands in the Atlantic Ocean.'* 
The Charge d'Affaires does not adduce one single reason to justify 
such an extraordinary declaration. Now I, for the reason that I 
am as Mr. Baylies says, perfectly acquainted with the institutions- 
of the U.S., and know the character which their government sus- 
tains for its justness, cannot bring myself to believe that, witftout 
a previous examination of that right, a premature and absolute de- 
nial thereof, is really the expression of its sentiments. It is true 
that its Envoy so avers ; but it is no less true, that the President 
stated no such thing in his message, but that he would send out a 
Minister — not for the purpose of roundly denying the right of this 
Republic without giving any reason therefor— but, solely for the 
purpose of examining into the right alleged :• and there is a great 
difference between the examination of a doubtful fact, and the 
adoption of a determination regarding it. My reason revolts, Ex- 



eellcnt Sir, at the terrible idea that such should be the sentiments 
of a government I venerate ; for indeed, if the decided resolution 
of that government were to utterly deny the incontrovertible rights 
of this Republic, to what end was the enquiry of which the message 
spoke? — to what end was the useless expense of sending a Minister 
to pronounce a simple nego, which might sooner and more easily have 
been said in a note ? But if, as it is to be inferred from the mes- 
sage, all that the government of the U. S. wished, was to inform 
itself thoroughly, how can it be believed that before doing this, be- 
fore instituting an enquiry, before giving a hearing, it should autho- 
rititavely pronounce an absolute and unjustified negative ? Does it 
not know that in so doing it would be committing an injustice ? Sir, 
if unfortunately this were true — if this extravagant language were 
really that of the President, all civilized nations would immediately 
recognize in it the despotic language of force,-^-they would look 
for and no longer find the principles of strict justice which always 
regulated the resolves of the American cabinet ; for that language, 
translated into the idiom of reason, signifies — " I will not examine 
the rights adduced by a nation as independent as my own : howev- 
er sacred they may be, I deny them : I disregard the prohibitions 
which it may dictate in exercise of its sovereignty : my disregard 
proceeds from the knowledge of my strength, which I proclaim ae 
the supreme regulator of- international acts and rights." It would 
be insulting the public reason to believe the government of the U. 
S. possessed of ideas so destructive of the most , solemn principles, 
and of the independence of nations. Nevertheless the Charge 
d' Affaires affirms the existence of such sentiments. And am I not 
to 'believe, I repeat, that he has entirely mistaken the objects of his 
jnission ? 

These are, Sir, in compendium, the observations which rush upon 
the mind on view of this singular negociation — a negociation open- 
ed with unbecoming insults— devoid of every kind of proof — divert- 
ed from its primitive object — commenced where it .ought to con- 
clude, and in which it is impossible to distinguish the beginning 
from the ultimatum pronounced upon it. 

But, having concluded my report in the part which was enjoined 
■me, may I be allowed, as a citizen of the Republic, and as directly 
interested in the results of this important controversy, to manifest 
my opinion and the foundation whereon it rests, with respect to the 
great question which is about to be submitted to the imposing tribu- 
nal of the civilized nations ? I speak: of the question of the right of 
the Argentine Republic to the Malvina Islands and their adjacen- 
cies, and to the coasts of the continent as far as Cape Horn. If the 
government of the U. S., or any other, deny the existence of that 
right, on Your Excellency devolves the easy duty of demonstrating 
it to the world. Your Excellency will doubtless do so, and perhaps 

1 4 



104 



PAPEK5. 



will find of some use the information which I proceed to cornmuifi* 
cate, moved principally by the strange denial which the Charg6 
d' Affaires has made of the aforesaid right. 

Let us firsi establish general principles and ideas, which applied 
afterwards to facts, will give us the solution of the difficulty it is 
endeavored to raise. 

Certainly if we were only to attend to the practices observed by 
covetous Europe, in former hapless ages, in arrogating to herself 
the sovereignty of countries whether inhabited or desert, it would 
be impossible to fix a universal rule respecting the means by which 
nations acquire dominion. Those practices have varied according 
to circumstances ; and the shameful history of the ultramarine 
establishments of Europe, both in the Eastern and Western regions, 
presents no other authority for her rights than tiie voluble one of 
predominant interests in combination with the power of sustaining 
them. Nor has the odious right of conquest justified the appropria- 
tion of a great part of the most valuable countries ; for, in justice, 
there is no real conquest of a country without previous war with its 
inhabitants — a war at once just and duly waged ; but the Euro- 
peans have never hesitated to claim, by right of conquest, immense 
inhabited and inoffensive countries, from the moment they set their 
feet on them, or raised a cross or hoisted a flag. What right had 
the Portuguese, in a time of peace, to make themselves masters of 
the East Indies? What the Dutch to eject them from these pos- 
sessions? What right had France and the nations of the Baltic to 
divide * amongst themselves the spoiis of their ancient grandeur? 
What right had England to make herself almost exclusive mistress 
of those dominions ? Interest and force — nothing else ; and at a 
time when the civilized world was reduced to the very nations 
which broke the law of nations, the general silence or the applause 
of cupidity, succeeded almost in legitimating those means of ac- 
quiring dominion, which in process of time will perhaps inspire 
horror. 

Europe did not follow any other measure in the usurpation, 
(which she gilded with the name of colonization,) of the spacious- 
regions of the New World. In the complete subversion which the 
eternal principles of the law of nations had undergone, by the sub- 
stitution of will and power for justice and reason, the European 
States rushed successively upon the pacific neighboring territories. 
The first who arrived, called himself master — but his title was no- 
minal, whilst he did not write it with his sword, or another did not 
erase it with his. Spain, Portugal and England were those who 
shared the most in the partition of a world. Their own interest 
taught them the necessity of mutually respecting their acquisitions, 
Hence arose certain rules which they termed general, and which 
were successively established, either m a tacit manner, or by con- 



* 



y&FERs. 105 

ventions which they celebrated between themselves, or by declara* 
rations of each government, made as tne cases occurred. Forget- 
ting entirely the origin and the mode of the acquisition; the acqui- 
sition was only considered as a fact, and this fact as a right. But, 
notwithstanding the conventions and the rights which they mutually 
recognized, restiess covetousness was burning in all of them with 
the additional force which was communicated to it by the sight of 
what others possessed, and the unquenchable desire of possessing 
more. Henco so many aggressions, so many partial' usurpations. 
An enterprising nation possesed itself of a great part of Brazil ; and 
this usurpation from Portugal, was viewed by Europe as a right, 
which in its turn disappeared by force, leaving scarcely the ves- 
tige, which is now perceptible in Guayana. The English, French 
and Dutch, either avowedly or under pretexts, endeavored at va- 
rious times to establish themselves in, and make themselves mas- 
ters of many points, more or less important, belonging to the ex- 
tensive possessions of Castile, especially in the islands and Eastern 
coasts of the continent. The rich West India Islands presented 
an abridged representation of the conduct and system of acquiring 
pursued by Europe. He who seized on an island was its owner, 
till he was in his turn ejected, in order to become again possessor ; 
and that important archipelago, was throughout, the theatre of a 
multitude of sovereignties, many of which were as varied and as 
moveable as the waters which surround them. 

And in the uncertain legislation which this tumultuous series of 
reciprocal usurpations formed, can we perchance find the true rules 
of the modes by which nations acquire dominion ? No : we must 
look for them in the immutable principles of the law of nations.-— 
This law was infringed by those appropriations ; but it had prece. 
ded them, and therefore condemned them. It existed at the time 
of their execution, and in despite of them, and it now exists — now 
that the nations, without repenting of their former acts, wish at 
least, from respect to public opinion, to appear as regulating by it 
their present conduct. 

According to this universal code, I unhesitatingly believe — 

1st, — That the mere casual discovery of an uninhabited country, 
or of one inhabited by people whom it is easy to subject or destroy, 
does not confer dominion over it. 

2d, — That a discovery intentionally made in virtue of a deter- 
minate project or enterprize, confers it, provided this enterprize is 
carried into effect by the actual settlement of the discoverers in the 
country and their remaining therein ; but not by their contenting 
themselves with a momentary possession, nor with leaving signs, 
which after the possession is concluded, are of no avail — such as 
flags, plates, inscriptions, coins, &c. 



TAPERS* 



3d, — That the means of acquiring, which PufFendorf calls origi- 
nary, that is, the discovery and the occupation, or actual and per- 
manent possession, with intention to retain, — are not the only ones. 
A nation can besides acquire over a territory a dominion which 
belonged to another, either by inheritance, by cession, by sale, by 
exchange, or by treaty. 

4th, — That the strongest and clearest of these rights, is that which, 
proceeds from the existence of another, as in the cases of cession, 
exchange, &t;., in which the right of one nation passes to another, 
whether this right may have originated in possession, or in any 
other manner. 

5th, — That this most valid title may, by being united to others, 
become still stronger, as in the case of a nation making the first dis» 
covery of a country, and taking actual possession of it ; and ano- 
ther, which has pretensions to it, ceding the rights it may have t 
in favor of the former. 

6th, — That the nation which, in any manner, acquires dominion* 
over a district, and abandons it with the intention to return, mani- 
fested by facts, such as leaving a part of its establishment, letting 
the settlements remain standing, or leaving other things of which 
it stood in need, and might have taken away, tec. &c, still pre* 
serves that dominion. 

7th, — That when a nation acquires by any of the aforesaid means 
a territory washed by the sea, it acquires ipso facto the dominion 
over the coasts, ports, islands, gulfs, fisheries, and all their adja- 
cencies. 

8th, — That the territory or jurisdiction of a State is ail that 
space over which the action of its government extends. 

The effects of dominion, considered, not on the whole, but only in 
that part which is applicable to the present question, are : 

1st, — The power of enjoying and disposing of all the advan- 
tages which can be derived from its jurisdiction. 

2d, — The power of witholding or conceding this enjoy* 
ment. 

3d, — The power of punishing the infringers of the regula* 
tions which may be adopted with regard to this enjoyment, 
which power is inherent to every prohibitive right, as, without 
it, the right would be illusory. 
This dominion once acquired, is lost r 

lst 5 — By the prevalence of foreign force, or by conquest, 
2d, — By exchange, sale, or express and definite cession, 
but not by the simple non-use of this or that district, or of this 
or that advantage ; nor by the toleration or tacit permission 
to a nation of (for example,) the use of a fishery ; for in these 
cases it is always presumed that the nation to which the do- 
minion belongs, reserves its right. 



P APSES. 



8d, — By dereliction or complete abandonment of the terri-. 
tory with the intention of not returning to it, or when the in- 
tention of returning does not go beyond a mental resolve, or 
is not evinced by deeds ; in which cases it passes pro derelicto 
to the first who may occupy it ; but this does not take place 
when the abandonment is made in consequence of some extra- 
ordinary cause, or from necessity, or if it only consists in leav- 
ing uncultivated, desert, or undefended some place for a short 
or long period of time. 

The known wisdom of the Charge d' Affaires will not fail to 
agree in the correctness of these principles, which, founded in rea- 
son, uniformly admitted and generally observed, constitute an es* 
sential part of the common code of nations. 

To apply them more clearly and suitably, we will enter on the 
irksome but necessary task of sketching the principal outlines of 
the history of the Mai vinas, and the eastern coast of this continent 
to the south of the River Plate. 

We will first treat of the coast, as being the part which offers 
the least difficulties. 

It is entirely beyond dispute, that since the year 1519, and prior 
to the discovery of the River Plate, the Portuguese Magellan, in 
the service of Spain, and under the reign of Charles V., discover- 
ed, nearly at the farthest point of the continent, the strait which 
now bears his name. It is equally indisputable that eight years 
afterwards, Loaiza, likewise in the service of Spain, was the first 
who traversed that strait ; also, that to them succeeded other Spa- 
nish navigators ; among them, Alcozaba in 1535, Villalobos in 
1549, &c. ; it is equally so, that these anterior discoveries and la- 
bors of the Spaniards were what excited and aided the later under- 
takings of other navigators, both foreigners and natives ; counting 
among the former, the Englishmen Drake, Cavendish and Haw- 
kins, in 1577, 1592, and 1593 ; and the Dutchmen Noort in 1599, 
Spilbertin 1615, Moore in 1619, (fee. ; and among the latter, Val- 
dezin 1581, Nadal in 1618, &c. The English nation pretends to 
attribute to Drake the discovery of Cape Horn in 1578, and Hol- 
land to the Dutchman Lemaire in 1616. The latter appears the 
most natural, as well from the etymology of the word Hornos(from 
Hoorn, a town in Holland,) as from the fact that the celebrated 
English navigator Cook, even with the knowledge possessed in his 
time, that is 150 years afterwards, could form no exact idea of the 
Cape. But be this as it may ; that which appears beyond doubt, is, 
that the first who doubled the Cape was not an Englishman, but 
Lemaire. It is equally certain that no other nation than Spain 
ever formed establishments on any part of this extensive coast : 
nor was there, in the beginning, any motive or interest for going to 
inhabit those misty and inclement regions. 



108 



PAPERS* 



On the contrary, from the moment that Spain took possession 
of the River Plate, she had not only a motive, an interest — she 
was under the absolute necessity of taking and securing the whole 
extent of the coast ; as the primary object of her financial and co- 
lonial policy was always to keep the foreigner aloof from her do- 
minions, in order to avoid a clandestine commerce. She, in effect, 
took possession of the coast j but I shall not dilate much on this, 
nor on the large iron crosses which it is notorious ghe caused to b§ 
fixed on the whole line of coast of Patagonia and Tierra del Fue- 
go ; I shall not, I repeat, dilate on this, as her dominion was sup- 
ported in actual, uninterrupted and expensive occupation, which 
was respected by foreign nations. On examining the public ar- 
chives of this capital, it is found that the whole coast was divided 
into three districts : the first, from Cape St. Antonio to Santa Ele- 
na ; the second, from thence to the strait ; and from the strait on- 
wards, including the island of Los Estados, and adjacencies, be- 
longing to the district of the Malvinas, which constituted the third. 
It will likewise be seen that she formed settlements in Rio Negro, 
Puerto Deseado, San Julian, San Jose, and Santa Cruz, the first of 
Which still exists. 

The ever watchful cabinet of Spain paid particular attention to 
these establishments. On the 12th of March 1780 she notified the 
remission of various Castilian, Gallician and Asturian families, as 
settlers. On the 9th of September 1781 she concentrate^ the go- 
vernment of the coast in D. Francisco Viedma, naming him super- 
intendant of the establishments from Cape San Antonio to Santa 
Elena, placing under his dependence those of San Jose, San Julian 
and Port Deseado ; and marking out as the jurisdiction of the su- 
perintendant of San Julian all the space comprised from Santa Ele- 
na to the strait of Magellan. On all these points she constructed 
and preserved depots for convicts and military detachments, the 
maintenance of which cost many dollars to the treasury of Buenos 
Ay res. By a royal order of the 28th of September 1781, six ves- 
sels were permanently destined to these establishments, for which 
vessels the said treasury had to pay the sum of $8^3,509; and 
such was the constant care for the preservation of these settle- 
ments, notwithstanding the great expense they occasioned, that, San 
Jose having been abandoned by the greater part of its inhabitants, 
owing to a scarcity of provisions, a royal order was signed in Par- 
do on the 4th of March 1780, conceding a premium to the few sol- 
diers who had not abandoned the place, and pardoning the convicts 
who remained. By another, dated in San LorenzOj on the 22nd of 
November 1795, the Icing approved all the measures which had 
been successively proposed to him by two viceroys, the object of 
which was to preserve, forrierit, an .i add to the establishments on the 
const, m order tjiat tht Lvglish might not establish themselves there, 



^Spain did not content herself with the mere permanent occupa* 
tion of all the coasts ; she Caused her subjects to enter into the en- 
joyment of the advantages accruing therefrom. With this view, 
she in 1790 established a grand maritime company, the direction of 
which should be in Madrid, and the principal factory in Puerto De- 
seado. Its object was the settlement and improvement of the coast, 
the Curing of fish, and the whale and seal-fisheries. Twelve 
months afterwards, various privileges were conceded to the compa- 
ny. By a royal order of the 15th September 1792, a further con- 
cession was made to it, allowing it to extend its fishery to the Mai- 
vinas, and ordering the convicts who were there to be employed ia 
this occupation. By another of the 16th of February 1791, it was 
already ordained that the treasury of Buenos Ayres should lend 
assistance to D. Juan Munoz, for sustaining the establishment of 
Puerto Deseado, as the king was determined, even should the state 
of the company not permit to incur the expense, that the establish- 
ment be supported at all costs, were it only as a depot for convicts. 
By another of the 17th of April 1798, it was ordered that the trea- 
sury of Buenos Ayres assist the company with $20,000 annually. 
Finally, by another of the 13th November 1799, it was ordained, 
among other things, that the 820,000 be furnished every year with- 
out discount or delay ; that the exclusive right to the fisheries 
should belong to the company ; and that the company should from 
that time be considered as a private property of the royal patrimo* 

It is unncessary to state that this company, though apparently it 
did not succeed, entered on the full and undisputed enjoyment of 
its rights and privileges, without any nation calling them in ques- 
tion. On the contrary, all countries respected them ; and on the 
few occasions on which foreign vessels touched at their establish- 
ments, they acknowledged the jurisdiction of the company, and 
acceded without repugnance to its regulations. On the 2d of June 
1793, the commandant of Puerto Deseado, D. Miguel Resio, gave 
.notice of the arrival at that place of the two American vessels 
" Ark" and " Governor Brown," for the purpose of fishing. They 
were ordered to abstain from doing so, and to set sail immediately ; 
when they excused themselves under pretext that they only wished 
to re-establish the health of their crews, attacked by scurvy, and 
not to fish in that port, or in its neighborhood ; adding that they 
well knew they were not authorized to do so, on account of the 
agreement entered into between Spain and England. In like man- 
ner, in 1803, an English brig appeared off Puerto Deseado, and 
after standing off and on several times, she was not only 
reprimanded for navigating in those seas, but was likewise de- 
prived of some seal-skins she had taken on the coast. On the 4th 
oi April 1802, a shallop belonging to the .American ship Diana, cap- 



110 



PAPERS. 



tain Smith, entered Rio Negro for the purpose of taking in wate* 4 
when the viceroy reprimanded the commander of that place for not 
having ordered her to retire from those seas. The shallop having 
returned on the 21st of June in the same year, in quest of assist- 
ance for careening the vessel, she was then ordered off, which or- 
der she obeyed immediately, and set sail, abandoning her second 
mate and six seamen. 

Thus the dominion of Spain over the whole extent of the coast is 
founded on its discovery, on the first and exclusive permanent occu- 
pation of it, and on continual and repeated acts of sovereignty, 
exercised under the eye of all nations, without any having called 
it in question ; all, on the contrary, having acknowledged it. 

Let us now turn to the Malvina islands. Who was the first dis- 
coverer of these islands, is a question the solution of which has 
never been universally agreed to. There are many widely differ- 
ent opinions with regard to it. This enquiry, however, according 
to the principles here laid down, is not of itself sufficient to decide 
on the sovereignty of these islands. But he is deceived who may 
think that Spain has no pretensions to the discovery of them. It is 
true that the discovery was casual, and that not even a name was 
then given to the islands ; but of this kind was likewise the disco, 
very which the English attribute to Davies in 1592. To justify 
this pretension of Spain, I will not cite, as I might do, the asser- 
tions of Spanish authors ; but rather that of a Frenchman, whose 
testimony cannot therefore be objected to by other nations ; of a 
Frenchman, who, as the first settler on the Maivinas, had a special 
motive for enquiring into the matter. Bougainville, in the account 
of his second voyage to the Maivinas, thus expresses himself. " I 
" am of opinion that the first discovery of them can only be attri- 
" buted to the celebrated navigator Americo Vespusio, who, in the 
" third voyage which he made for the discovery of America in 
" 1502, run down the north coast of them. It is certaiu that he 
" did not know whether they formed part of an island, or of the 
" continent ; but from the route he followed, from the latitude to 
" which he arrived, and even from the description he gives of the 
" island, it can easily be perceived that it was one of the Malvi- 
" nas." The British Naval Chronicle, of 1809, Written by various, 
literary characters, says, that although the first discovery of the 
Maivinas has been attributed to Davies 5 it is very prcbable they 
were seen by Magellan, and by others who followed him. Spain 
may therefore lay claim to the discovery. 

Not so to the first occupation or settlement. It is not stated by any 
writer that the islands were colonized before the year 1764. There 
had been, it is true, projects in contemplation and wishes evinced 
to take possession of them ; but they were never realized. What 
is said in this respect by an English author (Milleb, History of 'thr 



I'APERS. 



lit 



Heign of George III.) is worthy of notice. " It was first remark- 
ed by Lord Anson, on his return from his famous voyage round 
the globe in 1744, that the possession of a port to the southward of 
the Brazils would be of signal service to future navigators for re- 
fitting their ships, and providing them with necessaries, previous to 
their passage through the straits of Magellan, or the doubling Cape 
Horn ; and among other places eligible for this purpose, he speci- 
fied Falkland islands. About ten years after, on his lordship's ad- 
vancement to the head of the admiralty, a plan in conformity to his 
ideas was on the point of being carried into execution ; but strong 
remonstrances being made against it by the king of Spain under 
the old pretence ot his exclusive right to all the Magellanic regions, 
the project, though not expressly given up, was suffered to lie dor- 
mant." 

Some years afterwards, France formed a similar scheme and car- 
ried it into execution. According to Pernety's account, on the 8th 
September 1763, the ship Aigle, carrying 20 guns and 100 men, 
under the command of M, Guyot, captain of a fireship, and the 
corvette Sphynx, with 14 guns and 40 men, commanded by M. Cle- 
nart, set sail from St. Maloes for the Malvina Islands. On the 4th 
of February 1764 they entered the great bay of La Soledad, which 
the English afterwards called Berkley Sound ; having desembark- 
-od, they ascended -a hill, on the summit of which they erected a 
large wooden cross, (a part of which exists to this day,) and on 
17th of February they established themselves by constructing a 
fort. After having brought cannons on shore and taken possession 
with a salute of twenty-one guns, in the name of his Most Christian 
Majesty, M. Nerville was appointed governor. 

In Bougainville's work may be seen the sequel of this event — the 
labors undertaken — the entire absence of traces of former inhabi- 
tants, to the degree that the birds appeared to be entirely domesti- 
cated — the voyage which he made to France — his return to the 
colony on the 5th of January 1765 — the content in which the colo- 
nists lived, &.c. &c. 

Thus it is evident that the French were the first settlers of those 
islands, to which sixty years before, when they saw them for the 
first time and considered themselves the discoverers, they gave the 
name of Malouines, a name which has prevailed more generally 
than those of Pepis, Falkland, and others which were likewise given 
them. 

But as soon as Spain received intelligence of this occupation of 
the islands, she asserted her right to them and they were restored to 
her. " In February, 1764," says Bougainville, " France had com- 
menced an establishment in the Malvinas. Spain claimed them as 
a dependency of the continent of South America. The king (of 

1 5 



112 



PAPERS. 



France) acknowledged her rights, and I received orders to go aftd 
deliver our establishment to the Spaniards." 

In virtue of that acknowledgment, by a royal order of the 4th 
of October 1766, D. Felipe Ruiz Puente was appointed governor of 
the Malvinas ; he repaired thither from Montevideo in company 
with Bougainville, who had arrived at that port. In April of the 
following year, Bougainville made to Puente a formal and absolute 
delivery of the establishment, vessels, effects-, arms, provisions, 
&c, the value of which was reimbursed to the French, part in 
Spain and France, and the rest in Buenos Ayres. 

In the meantime the English, (according to Byron } s.voyoge round 
the world,) under the command of Admiral. Byron, visited these 
islands on the 13th of January 1765, and on the 23d took possession 
of them, under the name of Falkland, after a long time had elaps- 
ed since tliey had borne that of Malouines, and after they had been 
colonized by the French since the preceding year. Byron declar- 
ed that all of them belonged to H. B. M., and sailed from thence on 
the 27th without leaving a hut or a single man. The harbor at 
which Byron had arrived, had not only been discovered by the 
French, but it had received from them the name of Port de la Croi- 
sade ; the English gave it the appellation of Port Egmont. 

In 1766, England forgetting that 22 years before she had ac- 
knowledged the exclusive dominion of Spain over the?Malvinas by 
desisting from the project of lord Anson, sent an expedition under 
the command of Capt. Macbride, who formed an establishment in 
Port Egmont. So far from finding those islands desert, and from 
being able to ground thereon a right, the English found the French 
established there since the two preceding years, and had it in con- 
templation to make use of force. " Capt Macbride, commander of 
the frigate Jason," says BougainvilJe, " came to my establishment 
about the beginning of December of the same year (1768) ; he 
pretended that those islands belonged to H. B. M., and threatened 
to disembark by force, were any resistance offered ; he made a 
visit to the commandant, and set sail the same day." ... 

I must not omit here an observation which Bougainville makes 
immediately afterwards, as it proves that France acknowledged 
Spain to be possessed of a right to these islands anterior to the 
French occupation of them, and consequently anterior to the occu- 
pation of them by Macbride. " Such was," he says, " the state 
of the Malvina Islands when I gave them up to the Spaniards, whose 
primitive right was thus rendered stronger by that which we had 
undoubtedly acquired by the first occupation." 

The governor of the Malvinas, Puente, notified to the viceroy, 
and he to his court, the establishment of the English in Port Eg- 
mont. In the interim, he gave instructions to the commander of 
A - ffo n t a R osn , v; c jy i n virtue of the orders he had r 



tapers. 



113 



eeived from the viceroy, he advised him that if he found there an 
English settlement, or any English vessels, he should warn them 
" that they were violating the existing treaties by being in those domin- 
ions without the express consent of his Catholic Majesty." These 
treaties doubtless relate to the acknowledgment of the Spanish do- 
minion, even by the English themselves, in the time of Lord Anson. 

Some time afterwards, a force under the command of D. Juan 
Ignacio Madariaga, sailed from Buenos Ayres against the English. 
On the 3d of July 1770, accounts were received from Puente, in- 
cluding the despatch of Madariaga, by which it appeared that on 
the 10th of June he had defeated and taken the English in the port 
«f La Croisade, or Egmont, of which George Tamer was gover- 
nor ; and by the capitulation entered into, the English were to give 
up all they had there, and were to be permitted to keep their flag 
hoisted on board the frigate and at the garrison, until they had em- 
barked, which was done. 

This news produced an extraordinary excitement in England, 
and great preparations were made for war with Spain, which cost 
the nation more than three millions sterling. But on the 2d of Ja- 
nuary 1771, the dispute was settled by a convention, which was 
signed in London by Rochfort, and the Spanish ambassador prince 
Masserano, in which was stipulated the complete restitution of the 
establishment to the English in statu quo ; but leaving pending the 
question as to the right claimed by Spain. W e shall afterwards 
see whether or not this apparently trivial reservation was acted 
upon by that power. 

Spain honestly fulfilled her part of the treaty. The treasury of 
Buenos Ayres received orders to defray the expense of replacing 
every thing in Port Egmont, to which the English returned in 
1771. 

But three years afterwards, the English suddenly and silently 
abandoned the settlement which had cost them so much. Accord- 
ing to the principles laid down, it is of no importance whether or 
not they left inscriptions there. The fact is, they abandoned the 
place — they never returned to it ; and neither to the court of Spain, 
to the government of Buenos Ayres, nor to the governor of Malvi- 
nas, did they intimate their intention of returning, as it was easv 
and natural for them to do, had such intention existed ; neither did 
they even inform those authorities of the motives. But what is 
more extraordinary, not even the English nation was ever informed 
of them. The Charge d'AlFairos cannot cite a single document in 
contradiction of any of these assertions. 

The mysterious abandonment of Port Egmont, Excellent Sir, is 
the most remarkable and the most curious incident in the history of 
the Malvinas ; and, before going farther, it is highly important to 
examine into the nature and causes of this events The resul* of 



ii4 mm*. 

the enquiry will be tae conviction that this abandonment completely 
annihilated the rights, however valid they may have been, which 
Great Britain had to that part of the islands ; and that from that 
time they reverted to their first origin — the crown of Castile. 

What could have caused this extraordinary abandonment 1 — 
Could it be fear ? No : for the English could have nothing to ap- 
prehend after the solemn restitution which had been made to them ; 
neither could England, in the year 1771, stand in awe of Spain. 
Could it be the inutility of the settlement 1 No : for the advanta- 
ges laid down thirty years before by Lord Anson, were even great- 
er at that time, on account of the increase, and greater activity, 
which had been given, as well to her mercantile shipping in general 
as to her lucrative commerce with the East-Indies. Was it from 
economy? So says the Charge d' Affaires of H. B. M., Mr. Pa- 
rish, doubtless because he had no other motive to adduce in the 
protest, which, by order of his court, he presented to the govern- 
ment of Buenos Ayres, on the 14th Nov. 1829, on occasion of the 
decree of the 10th of Nov. 1829, appointing a governor of the isl- 
ands. 9 

But, sir, to explain that phenomenon in the way in which Mr. 
Parish explains it, it is necessary to forget the character of the 
English nation, and entirely to lose sight of her mercantile history. 
A nation accustomed to make the greatest sacrifices for obtaining 
and securing every thing that can be of interest to her trade — a 
government which never resists that which is called for by a ma- 
jority of its subjects, and whose policy tends principally to the ag- 
grandizement of its commerce — a nation which had shown itself 
irritated to an extraordinary degree on being despoiled of Port 
Egmont, and which had not hesitated to expend, in a few months, 
nearly twenty millions of dollars in warlike preparations on that 
account — an opulent and enterprising mercantile nation, which had 
so much occasion for that place, as is proved by the numerous ves- 
sels belonging to her, which, from that time up to the present have 
frequented the islands, either to take in provisions or for objects 
connected with the fisheries — such a nation, having just obtained 
pacifically and without expense, the enjoyment of those advanta- 
ges forever, suddenly to abandon her possessions, solely for the 
miserable saving of the expense of their support, when merely the 
produce of the fisheries would more than repay the expenses of 
the establishment — abandon them from motives of economy, with- 
out leaving even a vessel, or a few men, notwithstanding her riches, 
her numerous navy, and her excessive population — abandon them 
in silence when she might have spoken openly, and it was so much 
her interest to do so ! This, Excellent Sir, I can say with confi- 
dence, is impossible. To render it credible, it would be necessary 



PAPEBS. 



115 



they should bring forward proofs and deeds as irrefragible as is 
this fact, that the English did entirely abandon the Malvinas. 

There must, therefore, have existed some other cause ; and the 
fact of concealing it plainly proves that it was not favorable to the 
pretensions of England. In etFect, she agreed to an express treaty 
— at least there are grounds for believing this, without referring t6> 
the archives, a thousand times stronger than any that exist for sta« 
ting as Mr. Parish did, that the abandonment was only in conse- 
quence of the system of economy at that time adopted by the govern- 
ment of H. B. M, 

The treaty to which I allude had its origin in the year 1771, and 
by it Port Egmont was restored to the English, with reservation as 
to the right of Spain. To prove it, I will present the positive as- 
sertions of respectable writers ; purposely setting aside all those 
who migat be objected to by England, and selecting only English 
writers. The result of this labor will shew : 

1st, — That the abandonment of Port Egmont was complete and 
absolute, and not, as Mr. Parish asserts, with an intention to return 
to it — an intention, which, under all circumstances, would have 
been merely mental, and as secret as the abandonment was public. 

2d, — That the following is what gave rise to this abandonment. 
While treating for-the restitution of Port Egmont, England did not 
disavow the exclusive right of Spain to the islands ; as neither had 
she disavowed it in the time of Lord Anson. But as she could not 
cede them at that time without augmenting the irritation which ex- 
isted in the minds of the people, and deeply wounding the national 
pride, it was agreed to make the restitution on conditions, which 
should not be expressed ; for which purpose was inserted the clause 
— " that that act should not affect the question of prior right of sove~ 
reignly over the Malvinas. In this way the English people were 
satisfied, and the negociation was left open, so as afterwards to agree 
to the total evacuation of Port Egmont. 

3d, — That consequently Spain recovered the full enjoyment of 
her rights over all the Archipelago of the Malvinas. 

Miller, in the before-cited work, after relating the excitement 
produced by the news of the expulsion of the English from Port 
Egmont, and the agreement by which it was restored, adds that 
parliament voted an address of thanks to His Majesty's govern- 
ment, for having obtained that accommodation, and to justify it, it 
was said that the atonement made by Spain was as ample as could 
be justly required, and that ministers would have been in the high- 
ost degree reprehensible, had they involved the nation in a war for 
the sake of so insignificant an object as the reserved pretensions of 
Spain to one or two barren spots under a stormy sky in a distant 
quarter of the globe. This extract, I will remark by the way, 
shows that the nation attacked the ministry for having consented to 



116 



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that reservation, either because it apprehended the results thereof 
or penetrated into what was kept concealed from it. The protest 
which nineteen peers of the realm entered, on this occasion, may 
be referred to on the subject. From these attacks arose that pom- 
pous and contradictory justification of the treaty. An address of 
thanks to the government is voted for having obtained something 
great ; and at the same time an endeavor is made to underrate it by 
representing the islands as barren, useless, &c. Wherefore was 
the contradiction ? Because it was necessary to prepare the pub- 
iic mind for what was to take place afterwards. 

Miller continues : " the possibility of a similar dispute (between 
England and Spain,) was precluded by the total evacuation of that 
settlement about three years after." 

The celebrated oracle of the opposition under the assumed name 
of Junius, did not allow himself to be deceived ; he bitterly criti- 
cised the ministry for having admitted that reservation, and pene* 
trating, or knowing, the real sfate of the case, he said the restora- 
tion was temporary, and announced as certain to the nation the fu- 
ture cession of the rights of England to the Malvinas. In the edi- 
tion of his famous letters which I have before me, the English edi- 
tor remarks on this occasion, that the Spaniards fulfilled their en- 
gagement by restoring the establishment, and the English fulfilled 
theirs by abandoning it after such surrender. 

Brook's General Gazeteer, published in London, says: 4£ Tn 1770 
the Spaniards dislodged the English from Port Egmont — this affair 
was settled by a convention, and the English regained possession ; 
but in 1774 the settlement was abandoned, and the islands ceded t& 
Spain." 

Chapter xxxix. of the Anecdote? of iize life of the Bight Hon. 
William Pitt, fyc., contains the following : " While lord Roch- 
ford was negociating with prince Maserano, Mr. Stuart Mac- 
Kenzie was negociating with Mons. Francois. At length about an 
hour before the meeting of parliament, on the 22d of January 1771, 
a declaration was signed by the Spanish ambassador, under French 
orders and a French indemnification, for the restitution of Falkland 
Islands to his Britannic Majesty; but the important addition, upon 
which this declaration was obtained, was not mentioned in the decla- 
ration. This condition was, that the British forces should evacuate 
Falkland Islands as soon as convenient after they were put in posses- 
sion of port and fort Egmont. And the British ministry engaged, 
as a pledge of their sincerity to keep that promise, that they would 
be the first to disarm. 

« During the month of February 1771, the Spanish minister at 
Madrid hinted to Mr. Harris^ the intention of the Spanish court to 
require of t' e British ministry a perfection of engagements, as they 
mre mutually understood, Mr. Harris' despatch, containing this- 



PAPEIiS. 



in 



hint, was received by the ministry on the 4th of March. Three 
days afterwards, a Spanish messenger arrived, with orders to 
prince Maserano, to make a positive demand of the cession of Falk- 
land Islands, to the king of Spain. The Spanish ambassador first 
communicated his information of these orders to the French ambas- 
sador, with a view of knowing whether he would concur with him 
in making the demand. On the fourteenth they held a conference 
with lord Rochford on the subject. His Lordship's answer was con- 
sonant to the spirit he had uniformly shewn. In consequence of this 
answer, messengers were sent to Paris and Madrid. The reply 
from France was civil, but mentioned the family compact. The 
answer from Spain did not reach London till the twentieth of 
April. In the mean time the ministers held several , conferences 
with Mr. Stuart MaeKenzie— the result of the whole was, the 
English set the example to disarm ; and Falkland Islands were to- 
tally evacuated and abandoned in a short time afterwards ; and have 
ever since been in the possession of the Spaniards. The British 
armament cost the nation between three and four millions of mo- 
ney, besides the expense and inconvenience to individuals." 

All these facts are confirmed by the testimony of Gumes in his 
memorial against Forte, Roger andDelpech, who had accused him 
of jobbing in the public funds. 

The before-mentioned British Naval Chronicle, after relating 
that in 1774 the English government ordered Capt. Clayton to 
evacuate Port Egmont and take away the effects, and that he, on 
his departure, fixed a lead plate with an inscription saying that the 
islands belonged to H. B. M., concludes: "but these islands, so 
pertinaciously claimed by the English, were ceded to Spain." 

The British Encyclopedia contains the following : " Port Egmont 
was restored to the English, who again took possession of it, but a 
3horttime after, it ions abandoned in consequence of aprivate agree- 
ment between the Ministry and the Court of Spain." 

These unimpeachable testimonies are sufficient to acquaint us 
with the nature and motives of that strange, sudden and silent 
abandonment. We may therefore assert as an unquestionable fact 
*that in 1,774, in virtue of a convention, all the rights which Eng- 
land might have had to theMalvinas were surrendered and trans- 
ferred to the kings of Spain. Here I may repeat the remark that 
. Bougainville makes on the occasion of the former cession by 
France. " Thus was rendered more secure the primitive right of 
Spain," — a right, I may add, recognized by England since the time 
of lord Anson. Let us now continue the sketch of the history of 
the Malvinas. 

Prom 1774 onward, Spain was the exclusive mistress of all the 
islands — no nation disputed her rights — none dared to establish it- 
self in the archipelago — she legislated over it, and exercised with- 



lie 



out interruption acts of sovereignty, which were respected by fo- 
reign countries. I will enumerate some of them. In 1774 she ap- 
pointed Don Francisco Gil governor of the Malvinas ; in 1777, 
Don Ramon Clairac ; in 1784, Don Agustin Figueroa ; in June 
1790, Don Juan Jose Elizalde ; in February 1793, Don Pebro Pa- 
bio ; in 1799, Don Ramon J. Villegas, and in 1605, Don Antonio de 
la Barra, &c. 

Since 1767 she constantly supported, with great sacrifices, the 
establishment of La Soledad, in which, and in the garrison, ves- 
sels, &c.,she expended $150,000 per annum, which sum was sup- 
plied mostly by the treasury of Buenos Ay res ; but she did not con- 
fine herself to an insignificant settlement ; she endeavored to pro- 
mote agriculture, and for this purpose transported thither convicts, 
cattle, &c, so that in 1784, according to the returns of governor 
Figueroa, the buildings amounted to 34, the population to 82 per- 
sons, including 28 convicts, and the cattle of all kinds to 7,774 
head. 

In the beginning of 1776, Capt. Juan P. Callejas formally re- 
connoitred Port Egmont and the adjacent bays ; he found the roads 
covered with grass, the doors of the houses and stores open, the 
roofs almost entirety fallen in, and some effects scattered on the 
shore. 

Under date of 7th February 1776, the Court sent word that the 
prince of Masserano had complained to the Cabinet of London of 
several English vessels having been seen in Port Egmont, in oppo- 
sition to the solemn and repeated protestations with which Spain had 
been acsured of the total abandonment of that place. The British 
Minister again assured him of the abandonment, adding that he 
had reason to suspect that vessels belonging to the revolted colonies 
of North America often went to the islands to fish for whales ; on 
which account the Court of London had it in contemplation to send 
one or two frigates to expel them. On this occasion the govern- 
ment of Buenos Ayres was desired to cause the government of 
the Malvinas to again reconnoitre the islands, and if he found any 
individuals there, to order them oil' immediately. 

On the 9th of August of the same year, 1776, the Court ordain- 
ed, that, England having already evacuated the establishment she 
had formed in Malvinas, the government of Buenos Ayres should 
destine two frigates to cruize in those parts ; and on the 26th of 
September it gave orders to warn the vessels of the English colo. 
nies to abstain from frequenting those seas and coasts, as they be. 
longed to the king of Spain. 

On the 1st of April 1777, the head pilot of the royal squadron, 
Don Pablo Siour was commissioned to make a new survey of Port 
Egmont. In his instructions he was ordered, if he found there any 
American vessels, to make to them tho before-mentioned intima- 



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119 



tion, as it was no longer under British dominion ; and in case he 
should find there any English vessels, he should make the same 
intimation to them, and further accuse them of a want of good 
faith. 

In April 1777, the governor of Malvinas received orders 
from the king to entirely demolish the establishment of Port 
Egmont, and not to leave a vestige of it remaining. This was af- 
terwards done, and the Spanish government under date of the 8th 
of February 1781, acknowledged the receipt of the despatch ac- 
quainting it with the fulfilment of its instructions. 

Spain declared war against Great Britain on the 8th of July 
1779, and in the year following the Viceroy of Buenos Ay res re- 
ceived orders to make every sacrifice for sustaining the Malvinas, 
in order that England might never claim them pro derelicto. This 
was done, and happily, in January 1783, preliminaries of peace be- 
tween the two nations were agreed on ; and the convention cele- 
brated in virtue thereof was communicated to Buenos Ayres. 

In March 1787, by order of the Viceroy, Marquis of Loreta, 
Don Pedro Meza reconnoitred the whole of the Malvinas, and did 
not find there a single British subject, or a foreigner of any other 
nation. 

By a royal order dated in Aranjuez on the 28th of April 1788, 
instructions were given to foment the fisheries in the islands, and to 
reconnoitre their establishments, in order not to allow any English 
to remain, either on Falkland or any other part. 

On the 28th of October 1790, a treaty or convention was enter- 
ed into in San Lorenzo, between the governments of Spain and 
England, for settling various disputed points relative to fishing, na- 
vigation and commerce in the Pacific and South seas ; and in the 
same place the ratifications were exchanged on the 22d November 
following. By this treaty, after regulating various other points, it 
was agreed in article 4, that British subjects should not fish or na- 
vigate in the South seas, within the distance of ten maritime leagues 
of any part of the coasts then occupied by Spain. In article 6, it 
was stipulated that in future the subjects of both nations should be 
prohibited from forming any establishment to the south of those 
parts of the coasts and islands adjacent, which were then occupied 
by Spain, but that they should be allowed to erect temporary huts 
for the object of the fisheries. 

On the 22d November 1791, Elizalde, governor of the Malvinas, 
with a frigate and a brig, was commissioned to reconnoitre those 
parts in the vicinity of Cape Horn and Tierra del Fuego, in which 
the English might have established themselves, and to oblige them to 
fulfil the treaties of 1790. In the instructions he is told, among 
other things, that, "according to the literal tenor of article 6, the 
English should not be allowed to fish or to construct huts on coasts 

1 8 , 



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which, although desert, may be situated to the North of territories 

occupied by Spain, such as the coasts of Puerto Deseado, those of 
San Jose, and even the bay of San Julian, and other places in 
which we may have had occupation or settlements, or which may 
be accessory to districts actually occupied." 

With respect to the constant and strict prohibition from fishing, 
or even navigating the Malvinas, imposed by Spain on foreigners, 
many examples can be adduced. To avoid prolixity, I shall only 
notice a few, of different epochs. 

On the 7th of February 1790, the American schooner Pere- 
grine, captain Palmer, arrived at the western bay. The governor 
caused her to be tauen to La Soledad ; and the captain, on being 
reprimanded for touching there, replied that he had no other ob- 
ject than to procure an anchor. He was ordered to leave the isl- 
ands., and immediately obeyed. 

In two cruizes made by Don Ramon Clairac in 1787, he found 
in different parts of the islands, the ship Hudibras, the shallop Au- 
daz and the brig Malplaquet, all English vessels. They made di- 
vers excuses for being there, and were all likewise ordered off. 

On the 29th of July 1793 the governor Sangineto learned that, 
in the islands, and the neighborhood of them, were various foreign 
fishing vessels ; he called a council of his officers, in which it was 
resolved that Lieut. Don Juan Latre, in the brig Galvez, should go 
in quest of these vessels, and expel them. The Galvez sailed on 
the 11th of December, and found in the Isla Quemada the Ameri- 
can brig Nancy, Capt. Gardener, to whom he addressed the follow- 
ing note : — " In consequence of the recent treaties between the 
Spanish and British governments, and of the orders I have received 
from the commander and governor of these islands of Malvina, it 
is my duty to inform you that you have no right either to fish or 
to anchor in the neighborhood of Spanish settlements ; as solely 
the English royalists are allowed to fish at a distance of ten leagues 
from the said establishments ; nor are they permitted in this part of 
America to construct huts in any place not situated to the south of 
them ; therefore, the Anglo-Americans not being comprehended in 
the privilege enjoyed by the royalists ; and even were they, this 
privilege not allowing them to anchor in the ports of the said isl- 
ands ; you will set sail so soon as the weather shall permit, and go 
to some other part where it is allowed to do it. God preserve you, 
&c. <&c." (Latre afterwards relates the destructive method re- 
sorted by these vessels for taking seals ; burning the rushes to force 
them out, and destroying them without distinction of age or sex.) 
A short time after receiving this intimation the American vessel 
set sail. 

On the 17th, in the port of Los Desvehs, Latre found six Ame- 
rican vessels, all from New York, and one French vessel ; viz : — 



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121 



ship Josefa, Capt. Hewitt ; and brigs Nancy, Capt. Green ; Marza, 
Capt. MacCail ; and Mercury, Capt. Bernard. These vessels were 
employed in fishing. Not only was the same intimation made to 
them, but their huts and gardens were destroyed ; the crews of the 
vessels assisting in the demolition. All of them successively obeyed 
the orders ; and on setting sail, duly saluted the Spanish flag, by 
lowering their own. 

On the 31st of January 1802, the governor, Villegas, notified 
the arrival of the American ship Juno, Capt. Kendrick, for the 
sole purpose of taking in water, and stated that she was the bearer j 
of a recommendation from the Spanish consul resident in the U. 
S., which had been given her in. case of her being forced to touch 
at the Malvinas. The viceroy replied to him, under date of 4th May, 
that, notwithstanding such recommendation, he should fulfil the 
orders he had received with respect, to any foreign vessel arriving 
there. I think I have now cited sufficient facts of this nature. 

We have now arrived at the epoch of the great blow struck by 
America against the power and dominion of the kings of Spain. — 
Here let us pause a moment. The long series of accredited facts 
I have brought forward clearly proves that Spain possessed and 
exercised an exclusive sovereignty over all the archipelago of the 
Malvinas. Notwithstanding this, it may not be superfluous to note 
down here a few of the many observations which present them, 
selves. 

It can no longer be denied that, prior to any nation taking pos- 
session of the islands, Spain called them hers. This pretension 
may have been founded on a first discovery made by Americo Ves- 
pucio, by Magellan, or by others; but no matter on what it be 
founded, or who may have really been the first discoverer ; the 
fact is, the claim existed and was acknowledged. This is proved 
by England having desisted from the plan of lord Anson. If Eng- 
land had possesed any right over the islands, the demand of the 
Spanish minister, relative to the object of the expedition, would 
have been ridiculous and insulting. Why question the owner of 
a thing, as to what he is about to do with that which belongs to 
him ? Above all, had such right been inherent in England, and 
not in Spain, England would not have desisted: therefore up to 
that time England possessed no right. 

France was the first nation which, long after this, took posses, 
sion of the Malvinas : Spain claimed them as adjacencies of the 
continent : her dominion over them was acknowledged, and they 
were given up to her* 

More than twelve months subsequently to the French, England 
took possession and was dislodged ; and hardly had a restitution 
of her rights been made to her, when she ceded them to Spain by 
a treaty. Thus Spain, by these acts, reassumed all the rights 



122 



PAPEBS. 



which may have appertained to France or England. From that 
time Spain continued in the full enjoyment of an acknowledged 
sovereignty ; in the exercise of which she, in 1790, granted to 
the English permission to fish at a distance of ten leagues from 
the coast. Long posterior to that date, and since then, not content 
with written titles, she exercised a positive dominion over them ; 
formed and supported permanent establishments, and her orders 
were obeyed by all the foreign vessels which touched at her pos- 
sessions. Thus, then, if we make the application of the principles 
laid down, we shall find that the right of Spain was founded. 1st, 
— In the discovery : at least it cannot be proved that it was not due 
to her navigators. 2d, — In the first occupation : for the rights 
which France had acquired thereby, were transferred to Spain. 
3d, — In the possession, not ideal and nominal, but a permanent, 
real, positive and expensive possession. 4th, — In the cession made 
by the only two nations, England and France, who could lay any 
claim to the islands ; cessions which obviate any doubt or dispute 
which could be brought forward relative to the first discovery or 
the first occupation : of which cessions that of England is proved 
by the treaty of the year 1790 ; for if, as Mr. Parish maintains, 
England had not lost her rights by the abandonment of the islands, 
she would not, in 1790, have contented herself with the limited and 
trivial right of fishing at a distance of ten leagues from them. I 
mean therefore to say that the right of Spain is founded on the 
most respectable and universal principle acknowledged by the law 
of nations ; and which has been before laid down. 

In conformity with these same principles it is evident that Spain 
possessed the right to prohibit foreigners from the enjoyment of the 
advantages afforded by these islands, and of punishing discretional ly 
those who might infringe her regulations. 

It is clear, then, that ail these rights passed to the nation which 
had succeeded to Spain in the sovereignty over those regions. 

It would be both useless and ridiculous to lose time in demonstra- 
ting that from the moment the Argentine Republic became an in- 
dependent nation, it acquired and legally appropriated to itself all 
those rights formerly possessed and exercised over its territory by 
Spain. But there has not been wanting a foreign newspaper to ad- 
vance the singular idea that, the former viceroyalty of Buenos Ay- 
res having been subdivided into various (Sovereign States, it could 
not be known to which of them belonged the right which Spain 
had over the coasts up to Cape Horn, and the adjacent islands. 

To which could it belong, if not to that to which they are indis- 
solutely bound by nature ? The territory which formerly com- 
posed the United Provinces of the River Plate having been subdi- 
vided into various States, each has remained mistress of the advan- 
tages which the locality of her territory presented. This is both 



PAPERS. 



123 



natural and just ; as it is conformable to the principle of the law 
of nations, and to the primordial objects of the institution of go. 
vernments. Paraguay, the Oriental State, or Bolivia, governing 
our coasts and the islands adjacent to them ; and the Argentine Re* 
public legislating, with similar right, in the ports of Assumption 
and Maidonado, or relative to the mines of Potosi ; would present 
an inextricable laberinth, whose only outlet would be war, and the 
consequent misfortunes of the regions so governed. This conside- 
ration has uniformly operated in all the States raised on the ruins 
of the old Spanish dominion. There is not one of them, from Mexi- 
co to Buenos Ayres, but, on separating from Spain, adopted the 
principle, that to each State, whether large or small, belongs the 
whole extent of territory which appertained to the viceroyaity or 
captain generalship to which it has succeeded (except in cases of 
special agreement), as also the exclusive enjoyment of all the 
rights and advantages inherent to the said territory. It cannot 
therefore be denied that the Argentine nation succeeded to Spain 
in the dominion over the Maivina Islands, on separating herself 
from that country in 1810. 

Let us now trace the last period of the history of the Malvinas, 
which commences in 1810. 

From that year up to 1820, no establishment (at least, no perma- 
nent one), was formed by any nation, either in the Malvinas, or on 
the coasts of the continent ; and this notwithstanding that the Ar- 
gentine Republic was not then in a situation to attend to the defence 
of them ; and notwithstanding that, in this interval, foreign nations 
continued to frequent those seas, either for the purposes of naviga- 
tion or for the fisheries, and that therefore it was of importance to 
them to form permanent establishments there. This plainly proves 
that foreign nations continued to consider those regions as apper- 
taining to a dominion which has since devolved on this Republic. 

In 1820 the government of Buenos Ayres took formal and solemn 
possession of the Malvinas, in the person of the colonel of its navy 
Mr. Daniel Jewitt. 

When Jewitt arrived at La Soledad he found dissemminated in 
the islands more than fifty foreign vessels. I will name some of 
them:- English, — Ship Indian, Capt. Spillcr, from Liverpool; 
brig Jane, Weddle, from Leith ; do. Hette, Bond, from London ; 
do. George, Richardson, from Liverpool ; cutter Eliza, Powell, 
from Liverpool ; do. Sprightly, Frazier, from London. Ameri- 
can, — Ships General Knox, Encanc, Newhaven and Governor 
Hawkins ; brigs Fanning and Harmony ; schooners Wasp, Free 
Gift and Hero, — from New York and Stonington. 

All these vessels were engaged in the seal-fishery, and they even 
killed on the islands the cattle which had been carried there from 
Buenos-Ayres by the Spaniards. In the presence of these vessel? 



124 



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anchored in the port of La Soledad, Jewitt took possession, firing a 
salute of 21 guns wieh the artillery which he landed. He treated 
them all with urbanity, and notified to them in writing the fact of 
the Republic having taken possession, and the prohibition to fish 
on the islands or kill cattle thereon, under the penalty of detention, 
and the remission of the infringers to Buenos Ayres to be tried. 

In 1823 the government appointed Don Pablo Areguati com- 
mandant of the Malvinas. In the same year -Don Jorge Pacheco 
and myself, convinced of the right of this Republic, and seeing it 
recognized by the tacit and general consent of all nations during 
the three preceding years, solicited and obtained from the govern- 
ment the use of the fishery and of the cattle on the eastern Mal- 
vina island, and likewise tracts of lands thereon, in order to pro- 
vide for the subsistence of the settlement we should establish there. 
An expedition was in effect fitted out, composed of the brigs Fen- 
wick and Antelope, which carried out among other things a quan- 
tity of horses^ — and of the schooner Rafaela, (which was armed,) 
for the seal-fishery, all under the direction of Mr. Robert Scho- 
field. The difficulties attendant on every new undertaking, were 
in this instance so great as to discourage the director, Schofield, 
■who abandoned it the following year, losing more than thirty thou- 
sand dollars and ruining himself, so that, dying shortly afterwards 
in Buenos Ayres, he left his widow and small children in a state of 
indigence. 

But I was not disheartened on this account. The year follow- 
ing, with the assistance of some of my friends, I prepared an ex- 
pedition which sailed in January 1826, under my direction, in the 
brig Alert. After many sacrifices, I was enabled to surmount 
great obstacles ; but still, that which we expected to effect in one 
year, was not realized before the expiration of five. My partners 
lost all hope, and sold me their shares. I bought successively 
three vessels, and lost them ; I chartered five, one of which was 
lost. Each blow produced dismay in the colonists, who several 
times resolved to leave that ungrateful region, but were restrained 
by their affection for me, which I had known how to win, and by the 
example of constancy and patience which my family and myself 
held out to them. 

Fully aware of the great advantages which the Republic would 
derive from establishments in the south; and some experiments 
which I had made in agriculture having been attended with suc- 
cess, I resolved to employ all my resources and avail myself of all 
my connections in order to undertake a formal colonization, which 
should secure those advantages and lay the foundation of a nation- 
al fishery, which has been at all times, and in all countries, the origin 
and nursery of the navy and of the mercantile marine. But wishing, 
as was natural, not to hazard my own labor and money, as well as 



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125 



that of the colonists and of those who had assisted me, I solicited 
from the government not only a grant of land, but also the exclu- 
sive right to the fishery, for the benefit of the colony. The go- 
vernment, convinced of this necessity, — of the utility which would 
accrue to the Republic from the enterprise, although it were no- 
thing more than having a port to the southward for maritime ope- 
rations, in case of a war like that which was then being carried 
on ; and of the expenses which the undertaking required, issued a 
decree on the 5th January 1828, whereby, in conformity with the 
spirit of the law enacted by the Hon. House of Representatives on 
the 22d October 1821, it granted to me the right of property to 
the waste land on the island, (after deducting the tracts conceded 
in 1823 to Don Jorge Pacheco, and ten square leagues which the 
government reserved to itself in the bay of San Carlos,) and like- 
wise to-Staten Land. It also conceded to the colony exemption 
from taxation for 20 years, and for the same period the exclusive 
right to the fishery in all the Malvinas and on the coast of the con- 
tinent to the southward of the Rio Negro ; under the condition 
that within three years I should have established the colony. 

In consequence of this, I put all my connections in requisition 
and exhausted all my resources to the degree that I Was in want 
of the necessaries for the decent maintenance of my family, for se- 
veral years. I made contracts in the U. S., and in various coun- 
tries in Europe, for bringing out families and acquiring vessels, 
which would become the property of the colony, without any dis- 
bursement, by paying for them with the product of the fishery — 
so that, in a short time the Republic would possess a fishing marine. 
When the aggression of the Lexington happened, one of these ves- 
sels had sailed from the U. S. ; others were about to depart but 
were stopped by the intelligence of that event. I have in my pos- 
session the letters in which this information is communicated to me. 

In the mean time, prior and subsequently to the decree of Janua- 
ry 5th, 1828, merchant vessels of all nations frequented the colony 
in their voyages to the Pacific, and on their return from thence. 
They there took in fresh provisions, refitted themselves and recruit- 
ed their sick. So content were they with the treatment they re- 
ceived, that they viewed the establishment of the colony, as a great 
benefit to commerce in general, as it saved them from deviating 
from their route to call at Rio de Janeiro or St. Catherine's, as they 
used to do before. This is sufficiently proved by the great number 
of merchant vessels which repeatedly visited the colony. The 
fishing vessels, on the contrary, which trafficked among the islands, 
began to avoid coming in contact with it : they seldom called at 
the port, confining themselves to the bay of San Salvador, distant by 
water 14 leagues from the colony. Whenever they did visit it, they 
jeceived the best treatment. 1 have not spoken with any of them, 



126 



JPAPBKS, 



that was not aware of the prior dominion of the Spaniards ; of the 
prohibition imposed by them to frequent those seas, and of the act 
of sovereignty exercised by this Republic in 1820. Warned not to 
continue fishing there, they all promised to obey, but none of them 
ever did eo ; and the colony without any repressive force, beheld 
its prerogatives rendered sterile and contemned. 

The damage which these depredations occasioned the colony was 
not trifling, since it was rapidly hurrying it to complete dissolution. 
It is evident that the seal fishery in those islands, is exhaustible, — 
for in time of the Spaniards it was so abundant, that only large 
vessels were engaged in it, and now only small vessels are em- 
ployed. Foreigners who only seek present and immediate utility, 
without considering the future, effect the slaughter in a pernicious 
manner. They set fire to the fields and slaughter indiscriminately, 
and in all seasons, even in that of bringing forth young. In con- 
sequence of this, and of the constant and great concourse, has 
ensued the present diminution of seals, of which there are now 
scarcely the twentieth part of what there were in 1820. It is not 
impossible that this valuable species may return to its former abun- 
. dance, by means of a well regulated slaughter, and some years of 
respite. But whilst foreigners continue to slaughter it is impossi- 
ble, and the species will become extinct. If this take place, the 
colony is undone, for this slaughter is the great allurement which 
it presents. Who would go and remain in that cold and desolate 
region merely for agricultural pursuits, when the province of Buc« 
nos Ayres offers, with a temperate climate, so many means of fol- 
lowing them with facility, and without the heavy expenses attendant 
on a residence in the Malvinas ? I perceived the danger to which this 
disorder exposed the colony ; and did not venture to bring out new 
settlers without having an effectual guarantee for their fully enjoy, 
ing their privileges. 

For this reason I requested the government to furnish me with 
a vessel of war, to enable me to cause the rights of the colony to 
be respected. The government was aware of the necessity of the 
measure $ but not being then able to place a vessel at my disposal, 
it resolved to invest me with a public and official character; and 
for that purpose issued the two decrees of the 10th of June ; the 
one, re-establishing the governorship of the Malvinas and Tierra 
del Fuego ; and the other nominating me to fulfil that office. 

In virtue of this nomination on the 30th of August, 1829, the gover- 
norship and commandantcy of the island was formally reinstalled, 
under salutes of artillery. Without deviating in the least from the 
urbanity which had before characterized my proceedings, I wrote 
to the commanders of the fishing vessels, to inform them of the new 
character with which I was invested ; and acquainting them with 
the resolutions of the government of Buenos Ayres ; and of the 



PAPEKS. 



127 



necessity there was for their desisting from fishing, under the pe- 
nalty of being detained and sent to Buenos Ayres for trial. I made 
this notification to the American schooners Superior and Harriet, 
permitting them, nevertheless, to carry off the cargo they had col- 
lected on the islands ; and I candidly declare that I fully believed 
in the sincerity of their promises. 

By this time the colonists had become accustomed to the climate ; 
they had commenced various labors, and counted on a certain and 
decent subsistence ; they had become, particularly, very much at- 
tached to the colony ; and they considered themselves happy, and 
I likewise considered them so. 

I then no longer doubted of the fortunate result of my underta- 
king ; and I felt convinced that it would, in a short time, begin to 
reimburse my immense outlay, and to recompense me for the inces- 
sant labor it had cost me. 

But these schooners repeated the offence, and they were detained: 
■ — Your Excellency and the public know the rest : know that, for 
thus defending the rights of the colony, and causing the resolutions 
of my government to be respected, I brought upon myself the ven- 
geance of a vessel of war belonging to a friendly nation, which, in 
violation of the most sacred principles, took pleasure in oppressing 
innocent people, and in destroying in one hour what had cost me an 
immense sum, and many years of industry, of labor, and of per- 
severance. 

] have now arrived, Sir, at the point from which I set out in the 
commencement of this report ; thus completing the sketch of the 
history of the Malvina Islands. 

But this interesting subject appears to be inexhaustible ; and I 
must not omit some remarks to which the latter period of the his- 
tory gave rise. 

The apparent indifference of the Republic with respect to the 
Malvina Islands, during the first ten years of its political existence, 
may perhaps be adduced as an argument against its right of sove- 
reignty over them ; but such objection would be entirely void of 
good faith, for according to the principles laid down, the abandon- 
ment of a territory does not annul the right to it, unless it be 
pontaneous, and without any intention of returning to it. Then 
only is there a real abandonment ; in the opposite case there is 
only a non use, but the right still exists. This non use by the Re- 
public during those ten years did not arise from a want of will to 
occupy, but from another most powerful and extraordinary motive, 
well known to all nations : — the necessity of securing its inde- 
pendence by supporting expensive wars. Not a single fact, not a 
single document can be cited to prove that during that interval the 
Republic had really abandoned the Malvinas, or "that it had no in- 
tention to establish itself there. Thus, then, even adopting the opin- 

! 7 



128 



Papers. 



ion of those writers on the laws of nations which are most contra* 
ry to the interests of the Republic, that is to say, that there exists 
prescription among nations ; even then, this could not be brought 
against her, as all the requisites demanded by prescription have 
been absolutely wanting. The first and most urgent duty of the 
Republic was to secure its political existence, but no sooner had the 
war with Spain subsided, than her first care was to resume formal 
possession of the islands, which she did in 1820. 

This act was public and solemn ; it was effected in the presence 
of a number of vessels, which were besides informed of it in wri- 
ting ; and which carried and spread the intelligence among all 
maritime nations. Those nations were silent on the subject ; and 
the Republic continued peacefully and publicly to exercise those 
acts of dominion which have been before stated ; and during which, 
repeating the warning, she declared to the world her resolution 
and her rights. 

The sovereignty of the Argentine Republic over the Malvinas is 
therefore unquestionable, if we consult the principles of the laws 
of. uations, and the undoubted facts to which we have applied those 
principles. 

According to these same principles she had a right to prohibit 
fishing within her jurisdiction, and to detain and bring to trial any 
vessel which might, by infringing the prohibition, voluntarily sub- 
mit itself to the results. She could do it, because she is mistress 
of the isles — she ought to do it, because her interests required it — 
and as it was her interest to do it, she did it. 

The seal-fishery will produce great profits to the State if it be 
properly organized ; and it will, besides, produce them without 
any expense to the treasury. These revenues are more required 
by us than by the opulent nation of the United States. We should 
be fools indeed, if, in the infancy of our progress, we consented to 
allow foreigners to reap all the advantages which nature has be- 
itowed on our isles and coasts ; advantages which will in time draw 
to us foreign capital and foreign population. If the North Ameri- 
cans had shewn a ruinous indifference for lucrative undertakings, 
would they now see populous and flourishing cities where before 
were nothing but woods and deserts 1 The immense fisheries of 
Newfoundland, which produce yearly many millions of dollars,, 
and contribute to supply excellent sailors for the three greatest 
maritime powers in the world, were raised from nothing by a pri- 
vate individual ; and with the assiduous care and protection of en- 
lightened governments, have arrived at an astonishing state of 
prosperity; Why should not the fisheries of the South become in 
the course of time proportionally as valuable to us as are those of 
the North to the English ? 



i'APliltS. 



129 



The celebrated Ulloa says very justly, speaking of the exclusive 
fishery of England in Newfoundland : — " It would be ridiculous 
for her to allow others to partake of what to her is of the greatest 
value, (the fishery,) as being the only advantage produced by 
that island ; and which other nations have vied with each other to 
acquire, by asserting dominion over a country which yields no other 
riches to its possessor than its fishery, and to obtain which it is ne- 
cessary to support the inconveniences of a climate, which, from its 
axcessive rigor, is hardly inhabitable during the greater part of the 
year." It would seem that Ulloa was thinking of the Malvinas 
when he wrote this. 

Not only is it right that nations should appropriate to themselves 
the exclusive enjoyment of these advantages, but it is what is al- 
ways done. We have a striking example of this in Newfoundland. 
Why have other nations required express and especial concessions 
from England, ere they could undertake this fishery 1 Why have 
the banks of that island been the subject of so many treaties ? — 
Why has England been able to allow, prohibit, or restrict fishing 
there, and to trace the limits in which it might be carried on ? Be- 
cause she is the owner, and because it suited her interests. 

The Spaniards were the first who discovered and peopled that 
island. This is proved by the Spanish names given to its capital, 
Placentia, and to other places, such as Cabo de Buena Vista, Pun- 
ta Rica, &c. Abandoned by them, it was afterwards taken pos- 
session of and abandoned by the Englishman Gerber ; but in 1622 
another Englishman, named George Calvert, succeeded in estab- 
lishing himself there permanently, carrying with him every thing 
that was necessary. He then privately commenced the famous 
cod-fishery, which has since become of such immense importance 
as to excite the desires of all nations. Spain, (perhaps on the ground 
of the first discovery and occupation,) claimed a right to this fishe- 
ry, as may be seen by the 15th article of the treaty of Utrecht, 
made in 1713 ; which claim she only recently gave up, in 1763, by 
the 18th article of the treaty of Paris, made in that year; not- 
withstanding that Spanish subjects, especially the Guipizconians, 
had been in the tranquil enjoyment of that right. 

By the same treaty of Utrecht the French were prohibited from 
establishing themselves on the island, or even remaining on it a 
longer time than was necessary for taking and drying the fish ; 
which they could only do between Cape Breton and Punta Rica ; 
and the islands of the river and gulf of St. Lawrence were declar- 
ed to belong to them. Perhaps this concession was made to them 
on account of the French being then masters of Placentia, which 
they ceded to the English, and of Canada, to which continent the 
river St. Lawrence belonged. Thus it was that they lost it by 
the 5th article of the treaty of 1763 ; by which they were only 



130 



PAPERS. 



permitted to fish in the gulf at the distance of three leagues from 
the English coasts, and without Cape Breton, at the distance of 
fifteen ; all which was confirmed, with some variations, by the 4th, 
5th and 6th articles of the treaty of Versailles in 1783. 

In like manner, by the treaty concluded on the 20th of October 
1818, between Great Britain and the United States, the latter were 
allowed to fish in Newfoundland, within certain limits which were 
minutely detailed, and at a distance of three maritime miles. 

It will be seen from this, and many other acts, that England ap- 
propriated to itself the exclusive enjoyment of the cod-fisheries ; 
interdicted other nations from the use of them, and pointed out the 
limits which they should respect. We likewise see here an instance 
of sovereignty acknowledged and exercised over an island whdse 
coasts were either uninhabited, or peopled by Esquimaux Indians* 
who, as in Labrador and Hudson, do not acknowledge the British 
dominion, and live independent. 

But in order to shew more fully the mode in which England ex- 
ercised her right over the Bank of Newfoundland — of the precau- 
tions she has taken — of the penalties she has imposed, and the ri- 
gor she has displayed in this respect, we will here copy two acts of 
parliament relative to the fishery during the reigns of George HI, 
and George IV. 

1. " No alien or stranger whatsoever shall at any time hereafter 
take, bait, or use any sort of fishing whatsoever in Newfoundland, 
or the coasts, bays, or rivers thereof, or on the coast of Labrador, 
or in any of the islands or places within or dependent upon the go- 
vernment of the said colony, always excepting the rights and pri- 
vileges granted by treaty to the subjects or citizens of any fo- 
reign State or power in amity with his Majesty.*' 

2. " It shall be lawful for every officer, commanding any of his 
Majesty's ships at Newfoundland, to stop and detain all and every 
ship, vessel, or boat, of what nature or description soever, coming 
to, or going from the said island, and belonging to, or in the ser- 
vice and occupation of any of his Majesty's subjects residing in, 
trafficing with, or carrying on fishery in, the island of Newfound- 
land, parts adjacent, or on the banks, in any place within the li- 
mits of his station, and to detain, search, and examine such ship, 
<fec, and if, upon search or examination, it shall appear that there 
is reasonable ground to believe that such ship, &c, or any tackle, 
apparel, or furniture, used, or which may be used, by any ship„ 
&c, or any implements or utensils, used, or which may be used, 
in the catching or curing of fish, or any fish, oil, blubber, seal- 
skins, fuel, wood, or timber, then onboard of such ship, &c, were 
intended to be sold, bartered for, or exchanged, to the subjects of 
any foreign state, or shall be discovered to have been sold, bar- 
tered for, or exchanged ; or if any goods shall be found on board 



PAFEES-. 



131 



such ship, &c, or shall be discovered to have been on board, ha- 
ving been purchased, or taken in barter or exchange, from the sub- 
jects of any foreign state ; in every such case, he shall seize and 
send back such ship, vessel, or boat, to Newfoundland ; and such 
ship, &c, shall, upon due condemnation, be forfeited and lost ; and 
may be prosecuted, for that purpose, by the officer so seizing the 
same, in the vice-admiralty court of Newfoundland ; one moiety 
of which forfeiture to be given to the said officer, and the other 
moiety to the governor of Newfoundland, to be applied in defray- 
ing the passages home of such persons as are directed to be sent 
back to the country to which they belong." 

In view of these strong regulations, by which the fact of finding 
in a vessel, a few fish, a little wood, &c, is sufficient to detain, 
search, bring to trial and confiscate her, can it rationally be a 
matter of complaint and surprise that this Republic, by prohibit, 
ing the fishery within its jurisdiction and punishing the infringers, 
should exercise the same rights, although not in a manner so in* 
quisitorial, vexatious and rigorous? The impartial of all nations 
will decide. 

But as often as I have hitherto employed the word fishery, I have 
done so to accommodate myself to common usage. I think that 
this word is not the most proper to express the act which is meant 
to be designated by it. What foreigners do in the Malvinas is not 
fish, but slaughter, which is performed by ball, clubs, &c, and al- 
ways on the shore. The real fishery is only in the high seas. — 
The use of this word, when treating only of slaughter, has given 
rise abroad to mistaken ideas with respect to the pretensions of 
this Republic ; it being probably believed that she prohibits 
fishing in the seas. The first intelligence which reached the U. 
States of the detention of the schooners, was given by the mate of 
the Breakwater, and he represented it with that character. The 
U. S. Gazette announced it in this distorted manner : 

li Arrived at Stonington on Monday, Schr. Breakwater, from the 
Falkland Islands, whither she went on a sealing voyage. The 
Breakwater put in at Port Louis, where she was forcibly taken 
possession of by Vernet the Governor, acting as he said under the 
decree of the Buenos Ayrean government, forbidding all fishing 
in those seas...... Schooner Harriet has also been seized under simi- 
lar circumstances." 

On this account it was, Excellent Sir, that a friend of mine, a 
native of the U. S., having written to tho Secretary of State upon 
this affair, received for answer that " measures were taken to as- 
certain (and this is another proof that such is the object of Mr. 
Baylies' mission,) on what foundation the claim of jurisdiction over 
the islands rested, but the sickness and death of Mr. Forbes had 
for the time interrupted the investigation ; our right of fish^ryj 



132 



papers. 



however, in those seas, is one that the government considers indis- 
putable, and it will be given in charge to the minister about to be 
sent there to make representations against, and demand satisfaction 
for all interruptions of the exercise of that right," (the fishery in 
the seas.) It is also on this account that the President only speaks 
in his message of those seas. The owners and parties interested 
in the captured vessels endeavored in this manner to deceive, in 
order that, the capture being then declared illegal, they might 
,claim their insurance from the underwriters ; and the government 
and the nation candidly believed that the question was relative to 
a fishery, not on the shores of a foreign jurisdiction, but on the high 
seas, such as the whale fishery. The consul Slacum quoted in one 
of his notes a part of the instructions given to Mr. Forbes, to pro- 
test against any restriction of the right of the U. S., but if he had 
quoted the whole of them, perhaps we should see that the right in 
question (as Mr. Slacum expresses himself,) related to the fishery 
in the seas ; and that Mr. Forbes, seeing that this Republic set up 
no pretensions in this respect, deemed it unnecessary to make any 
remonstrance. 

I have already said that this Republic, in order to establish the 
prohibition against fishing on the coasts belonging to it, within the 
distance it might think necessary for the purpose of securing that 
enjoyment, was not under the obligation of giving previous notice 
to any nation ; I now add that it was unnecessary. With what 
justice can it be said that the want of official notice respecting this 
prohibition injured any nation ? How — in what manner 1 If any- 
one considered it had reason to complain of this appropriation, why 
wait to do so till it should receive official information ? But it is 
useless to expatiate on this. No nation can say that it was not 
aware of the exclusive right of Spain, and that this right had de- 
volved on the Argentine State ; which, strictly speaking, did not 
establish any new prohibition, but continued that which Spain had 
imposed, though not to the same extent or with the same rigor. — 
On the other hand, the taking possession of the islands in 1820 was 
quite public : the subsequent acts of the government were so like- 
wise, and the decree of June 10th, 1829, and my circular, had been 
printed. How is it that the English government did not wait for 
official intimation to make, through Mr. Parish, the protest which 
it conceived itself entitled to make ? Besides, in 1829, my appoint- 
ment as governor of the Malvinas and of Tierra del Fuego as far 
as the Cape, was published in the U. S. ; and the year following, 
several journals inserted various notices, among others, one in 
which settlers were invited, and to entice them, it was expressly 
stated that the colony enjoyed the exclusive right to the fisher}'. 
But, above all, did not Mr. Slacum say that Mr. Forbes had re- 
ceived orders to remonstrate against that decree ? Therefore the 



PAPERS. 



133 



government of the U. S. did not await, nor did it require, official no- 
tice to take the steps it considered it its duty to adopt. 

Although there had been (which there was not,) any obligation 
incumbent on this government to acquaint another with its resolu- 
tions, an omission of this kind does not give room for complaint or 
remonstrance, nor can any right be founded on it, except when it 
entails injury on another nation. The injury which may ensue to 
a nation in such cases, can only arise from a want of knowledge 
of the measures adopted by another, and from being thereby preclu- 
ded from taking steps on its part, or from sustaining its rights. — 
But, in the present case, there was no want of knowledge in other 
nations, nor have they consequently failed to act as they have deem- 
ed proper. 

Thus far I have confined myself, Excellent Sir, to justifying the 
right of this Republic to the Islands, and the resolutions of the go- 
vernment with respect to nations in general. I now wish to limit 
myself specially to the U. S. of America, whose government is, of 
all others, that which most distinguishes itself in the untenable pre- 
tension of questioning or denying that right ; but, of all others, it 
is certainly that which can do so with the least justice. 

That England or France should do so, although without grounds, 
would not be surprising. But it is really so that the tJ. S. should 
attempt it ; and if it be true that Mr. Baylies' mission is to deny, 
and not to ascertain the right, it may be said to them : " He who 
denies the right of another should produce his own titles." And 
what can the U. S. shew ? Absolutely none : at least, as yet I 
have never heard of any. 

But n«t to leave any thing unanswered, I will call to recollection 
that some journals of the U. S. have affirmed that that supposed 
right was inherited. No such inheritance, however, does exist or 
has existed ; 1st, because England, from which alone they could 
have derived it, is destitute of it, as has been shewn ; 2d, because 
when Spain conceded to England the fishery at the distance of ten 
leagues, she did not concede it to the U. S., which already formed 
another nation ; 3d, because even did the Malvinas belong to H. 
B. M., the U. S. by the treaty of October 20th 1818, engaged not 
to fish within three miles of ihe coasts, ports, &c, of H. B. M. in 
America ; 4th, because although there had been nothing of this, it 
is inconceivable how this right should descend to the U. S. and re- 
main at the same time with England, who claims it, according to 
Mr. Parish's protest ; 5th, because it is a political absurdity to pre- 
tend that a colony which emancipates itself, inherits the other ter- 
ritories which the metropolis may possess. We inherited the Mal- 
vinas because they formed a part of the Spanish government of 
Buenos Ayres at the time of the revolution. If that singular doc- 
trine were to be found in the code of nations, the Low Countries, 



134 



PAPEES. 



for example, on their independence being acknowledged in 1648, 
would have succeeded to Spain in her rights to America, and in the 
same manner the U. S. would have appropriated to themselves the 
British possessions in the East Indies. Inheritance, indeed ! The 
U. S. did not inherit the rights of England in Newfoundland, not- 
withstanding its contiguity, and are they to inherit those which she 
may have to the Malvinas, at the southern extremity of the conti- 
nent, and in the opposite hemisphere ? 

But let us pass on to another argument of a more elevated origin, 
and the only one of any weight. " One of our vessels engaged in 
a traffic which we have always enjoyed, without molestation, has 
been captured," says the President of the U. S. in his message. — 
Behold here, Excellent Sir, the whole title which they allege — "we 
have fished freely, therefore we have aright to continue doing so," 

The fact is not correct, nor if it were, would the inference be so. 
In the time of the Spaniards, as we have seen, not even the naviga- 
tion of those seas was allowed, much less the fishery at the Malvi - 
nas. In 1820 and in the subsequent years, the Republic again 
enjoined, through Jewitt and me, the prohibition as far as regarded 
the fishery. Your Excellency will have remarked in the histori- 
cal sketch of the Malvinas, that, with very few exceptions, the fish- 
ing vessels there and on the coast of the continent have been Eng- 
lish and American, and the greater number of the latter nation. — 
How then can it be sustained that the U. S. have always enjoyed 
the right of fishery, and that too without molestation ? The only 
time they may have freely enjoyed the fishery, is the period 
elapsed between 1810 and 1820. B \t this enjoyment does not au- 
thorize that inference. It was temporary, and owing to the serious 
attentions of the Republic ; and according to the principles laid 
down, the non-use of a right, produced by an extraordinary cir, 
cumstance or event, does not entail a forfeiture thereof, in like 
manner as the tacit toleration of the enjoyment of it by another 
country does not occasion it ; for, when there is no express cession 
or abandonment proved by facts, the presumption is that the enjoy- 
ment tolerated to the other nation, is without prejudice to the ow- 
ner's right. The U. S. cannot, therefore, found any right on the 
fact of having fished freely during those ten years ; for, to do so 
it would be necessary that that of the Republic had become extinct. 
Therefore the/U. S. have absolutely no right to carry on the fish- 
ery in defiance of this Republic, either in the Malvinas or on the 
coasts of the continent. There are besides special circumstances, 
which, render it imperative that the U. S. should be the last nation 
in the universe to deny the sovereignty of this Republic in those 
regions, if, as I firmly believe, they intend to adhere to good faitly 
and to the principles which the civilized world respects. 



£»APEBS< 135 

* 

In 1816, the representatives of the nation declared the indepen- 
dence of the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata, comprised 
within the limits of the ancient vice-royalty of this name. The 
commissioner of their government resident in the U. S., Don Ma- 
nuel H. Aguirre, was directed to solicit the acknowledgment 
of that declaration. He commenced his negociations with the Se- 
cretary of State, Mr. John Quincy Adams, immediate predecessor 
of Gen. Jackson in the Presidency. The minister asked Mr. 
Aguirre, in a note dated August 27th, 1817, whether the provin- 
ces occupied by the Spaniards, Montevideo in possession of the 
Portuguese and the Banda Oriental governed by Artigas, and at 
war with the National government, were comprised in the territo- 
ry of the Republic. Mr. Aguirre answered in the affirmative ; 
and without further doubts respecting the territory of the Repub- 
lic, the U. S. government, under date of March 25th, 1818, trans- 
mitted a message to congress on this subject, stating among other 
things the following : " The commissioner has manifested that the 
government, the acknowledgment of whose independence he soli- 
cits, is that of the territory, which, prior to the revolution, formed 
the vice-royalty of La Plata. He being then asked whether it 
(the territory) comprised that occupied by the Portuguese, (it being 
besides known that the Banda Oriental was under the rule of Gen, 
Artigas, and several provinces in quiet possession of Spain) he re- 
plied in the affirmative. He observed that Artigas, although in 
hostility with the government of Buenos Ay res, sustained never- 
theless the cause of the independence of these provinces." 

Hence it is evident, 1st — that the U. S. knew that the territory 
of the Republic was that of the vice-royalty ; 2d — that their doubts 
respecting the territory were limited to the provinces occupied by 
Spain, Portugal and Artigas ; but that they harbored none rela- 
tive to the other possessions which were formerly comprised in the 
vice-royalty ; and they cannot now say that they did not know 
that the Malvinas and the coasts of the continent entered into the 
number of those possessions. 

But it was not solely through the envoy of this government that 
they knew it ; they were likewise informed of it through their own. 

In 1818, the government of the U. S. sent commissioners to this 
Capital, for the express purpose of obtaining the information which 
it deemed expedient. Mr. Rodney, who, some years after, died 
here whilst exercising the functions of Minister Plenipotentiary, 
and who was one of the commissioners, stated, among other things, 
in the report which, in fulfilment of his mission, he addressed to 
Mr. Adams, the following : "In 1778, a new vice-royalty was 
established at Buenos Ayres, comprehending all the Spanish pos- 
sessions to the cast of the western Cordilleras, and to the south of 
the river Marahon" ******** « extending in a direct line, 

1 o 



from its north to its south boundary, a distanee of more than tm 
thousand miles ; and from its eastern to its western not less than 
eleven hundred." ******** The report of Mr. Graham, 
also one of the commissioners, contains the same : these are his 
words : — " The country formerly known as the vice-royalty of 
Buenos Ayres, extending from the north-western sources of the 
river La Plata to the southern cape of America, and from the con- 
fines of Br&sil and the ocean to the ridge of the Andes, may be con* 
mdered that which is called ' the United Provinces of South Ame* 
rica.'" ******** Therefore the territory of the Republic 
is that of the vice-royalty, (in which were included the Malvinas) 
extending to the most southern cape of this part of America, 
which is Cape Horn. 

To these reports of the commissioners the greatest publicity was 
given. The president submitted them to congress — the congress 
ordered them to be printed, and they were even republished in 
London a short time afterwards. 

Being thus fully informed — being in possession of all these ante- 
cedents — knowing that the territory of this Republic was that of 
the vioe-royalty, which comprised the Malvinas — knowing that it 
extended itself towards the pole as far as the most southern cape of 
South America — without the slightest doubt, objection or difficulty 
having occurred thereon, as had occurred with respect to the dis- 
sident provinces, or those occupied by foreign powers, the con- 
gress of the U. S. of North America, adopting the proposal made 
by the president in March 1822, and in contempt of the remon- 
strances of the Spanish resident Minister, in 1823 proclaimed in the 
face of the universe that it acknowledged the Argentine Republic 
as a sovereign and independent nation. Can it be possible that that 
same government, as well as the English, which, with equal infor- 
mation on the subject, imitated it three years afterwards, now, bet- 
ter informed, deny to the Republic the essential right of legislating 
over its own territory, and exercising a sovereignty which they 
spontaneously acknowledged ? No ; it is impossible ! Such a 
phenomenon would convert the gentle feelings of gratitude into the 
most rancorous animosity. 

It is therefore indisputable, that, besides the decisive facts which 
justify the right of the Republic with respect to natioasin general, 
there are other special and powerful motives which oblige the U. 
States in particular not to disavow it. 

Yet, solely for having supported this right, I am now grossly 
reviled. Justice demands the reparation of these outrages. I 
again say, Sir, that if my conduct has been criminal, if I am a pi- 
rate, a thief and an oppressor, the duty and the honor of Your 
Excellency require that 1 be punished ; but if my conduct has 
been just — if I have been no more than a public servant, fulfilling 



PAPEES. 



mi 



»he instructions of my government, and if, for so doing, I find my 
fortune destroyed, and my name dishonored — if I have been no 
Hiore than a good citizen, who, with my labor and my capital, en- 
deavored to gain an honorable subsistence, rendering at the same 
time a great service to the state, the duty and the honor of Your 
Excellency require that the reparation and the satisfaction shal! 
immediately succeed the injury and the insult. 

In like manner, if we consider the positive proofs on which thel 
?ight of the Republic to the Malvinas are decidedly founded, and | 
the facts which most especially bind the North Americans to the I 
acknowledgment of this right, how dark must appear the picture 
presented to the world by the action of Capt. Duncan in the Mal- 
vinas ! If the Charge d' Affaires can only see in it pleasing traits 
ef patriotism, enlightened people will discover in it nothing but the 
fierce characteristics of oppressive power — a power which Duncan 
Would have been very careful not to exercise towards England., 
France, or any other maritime nation. I think, Sir, that the cri- 
minal humiliation of the flag of the Republic, and the great insult 
then offered to the reputation and rights of this nation, loudly call 
for the most solemn satisfaction and atonement prior to entering 
into any negociation. Even admitting that my conduct had been 
that of a noted pirate, in the country existed the government on 
which I depended, and before which I ought to have been accused. 
This ought to have been done, since Duncan uncourteously refused 
the offer I made, of calling on him personally and giving him 
any explanation he might require. Granting even that the Mal- 
vinas do not belong to the Republic ; yet the United States cannot 
deny that the Republic was in actual possession of them. There- \ 
fore, the insulting, inhuman, violent and unnecessary spoliation she \ 
suffered ought, before all, to be repaired and atoned for. There is 
nothing uncommon in a nation arrogating o itself rights which do 
not belong to it, or giving, in her actions, plausible motives of com. 
plaint. Let us suppose for an instant that this is the case with 
the Republic. But what will become of the dignity of nations, 
the order of society, and the peace of the universe, if a single in- 
dividual, who, whether justly or not, may consider his country 
offended, shall take on himself the r responsibility of vandallically 
avenging her. For Duncan to be in this port ; myself in this 
city; this affair under discussion, and for him to absent himself 
under a feigned pretext ; and when he was only empowered to 
afford legal protection, to rush unnecessarily, without formality,' 
treacherously, and in time of profound peace, to a formidable act 
ef war; destroying an establishment, usurping its property, and. 
keeping innocent and defenceless men during three months in j 
chains, is an atrocious and barbarous action — a horrible crime* 



138 



PAPESS. 



the cruelty of which the government of the TJ. S. cannot deny 
without forever tarnishing the spotless glory of its name. 

But I must here close this long report. I do so, Sir, with the 
regret produced by the consciousness of one's own incapacity, when 
interests of the first importance are under discussion. If I have 
not been so fortunate as to bring conviction to the mind in the part 
which relates to me personally, I shall feel it the less if these lines 
serve at least to assist in restoring to their immunity the incontro- 
vertible and trampled rights of the soil which has adopted me. 

LEWIS VERNET, 

Buenos-Ayres, August 10, 1832. 



PAPERS, 




[ No. XXVIII. ] 




(copy.) 

Legation of the United States of America, } 
Buenos-Ayres, August 18th, 1832. $ 
The undersigned has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of 
the note of His Excellency the Provisional Minister of Foreign Af- 
fairs, dated the 14th inst. 

A communication addressed to His Excellency which accom- 
panied the note, appearing to be a memorial of Lewis Vernet, is 
yeturned. 

Having no authority to stipulate that reparation shall be made to 
Lewis Vernet or to the Argentine Republic, for the acts of the 
commander of the Lexington at the Falkland Islands ; and being 
expressly directed by his own government to justify those acts, — 
the undersigned must yield to that alternative which His Excellency 
has made imperative ; and, as his continuance here would be use- 
less to his country, he asks passports for himself and his family. 

He relies on His Excellency for the necessary and usual facili- 
ties for embarking his personal effects and the library and archives 
of the Legation. 

In closing his correspondence, the undersigned tenders to His 
Excellency the assurance of his respect and consideration. 

FRANCIS BAYLIES, 

To His Excellency 
Sefior Dr. D. Manuel Vicente de Maza, 
Minister of Grace and Justice, 
Charged provisionally with the 
Department of Foreign Affairs. 



PAPHKS. 



[ Wo. XXIX. 1 

(teanslation.) 
PROTOCOL OF THE CONFERENCE 

OF THE 27TH. AUGUST. 

The conference was opened in the government house by the Mi- 
nister charged with the Foreign Relations stating to the Charge 
d'Affaires of North America that the government had been much 
surprised by the return of the copy of the Report which accompa- 
nied its note of the 14th August, and by His Honor stating that he 
was not authorised for what was therein asked, and therefore de- 
manding his passport : That the government, considering this act 
as the result of some misunderstanding, had desired its Minister of 
Foreign Relations to invite His Honor to this conference for the 
purpose of obtaining the necessary explanations relative to the 
return of the said report, to which the government could not 
agree. 

The Charge d'Affaires replied that he should have much plea- 
sure in corresponding, in his diplomatic character, with H. E. the 
Minister of Foreign Relations, but that he could receive no com- 
munication from Mr. Lewis Vernet. 

The Minister then explained to the Charge d'Anaires of the Re- 
public of the United States, that Mr. Lewis Vernet had not sent any 
communication to His Honor, — that the copy which had been join- 
ed to the note was a document in answer to the series of charges 
which formed nearly the whole subject of the first note with which 
the Charge d'Affaires opened the negociation — that, as such, it was 
a component part of the correspondence— that the having trans- 
mitted the answers to the charges, as they were given by Mr. Lew- 
is Vernet, did not import the remission to His Honor, in his official 
character, of any other notes than those of the Minister of Fo- 
reign Relations, 

The Charge d'Affaires was not satisfied with this convincing an- 
swer, and replied that as Charge d'Affaires of his government, he 
had not come here to act as a party in a litigated affair, or as accu- 
ser of Mr. Lewis Vernet before the government of Buenos Ayres. 

To which was answered : that the having remitted a copy of 
the report of Vernet, neither was, nor could be considered as done 
with a view to give to the Charge d'Affaires the character of an 
accuser, or of a party in a suit ; that on the contrary, inasmuch 
as the government of Buenos Ayres did not consider the Charge 
d'Affaires as being a special advocate of the citizens of North Ame- 



FAPBSS. 



141 



irica, merely because he had presented a remonstrance in support 
of the rights of those citizens ; so neither couid it be imputed to 
this government that it had made a private individual a party in the 
negociation, merely because it had adopted the contents of the re- 
turned copy as an answer to the charges preferred ; that Vernet 
was a public officer of the government, which had confided to his 
-charge the civil and military command of the Malvinas ; that, cri- 
minated as he was in the communication of the 20th of June, the 
government could not but hear him in reply to the charges brought 
against him, as was officially stated to the Charge d'affaires of N. 
America., Vernet having cleared himself from these charges, and 
it being necessary to reply to the Charge d'Affaires on this head, a 
copy of the report itself appeared the most proper, as it suffi- 
ciently illustrated the matter ; the report becoming from that mo- 
ment a part of the note of the 14th of August in answer to the part 
relating to the charges. 

His Honor the Charge d'Affaires still insisted on his former de- 
claration, adding that as the government of the Argentine Republic, 
by means of the said official note of the 14th August, asked for 
indemnification for the losses sustained in the destruction of the 
establishment at the Malvinas, by the commander of the U. S. ship 
of war Lexington, and reparation for the insult thereby offered to 
the Argentine Republic, without which it would not enter into the 
.discussion of the other points ; and as he had not received any in- 
structions on this head, he considered his continuance near this go- 
vernment as unnecessary, and was therefore under the necessity of 
asking for his passport. 

The Minister then observed to the Charge d'Affaires that he had 
stated himself to be fully authorised ; and that therefore the go- 
vernment never anticipated the breaking off of the negociation for 
want of authority or instruction ; but at the same time that it 
could see no reason that could justify the return of the explana- 
tions given by the civil and military commander of the Malvinas, 
so neither did there exist any reason for the Charge d'Affiiires ask- 
ing his passport, even though His Honor should not consider him- 
self sufficiently authorised, on account of his having been sent ex- 
pressly to justify the acts of Duncan ; 1st, because, if the line of 
conduct adopted by the latter had not been marked out for him, it 
is inconceivable how it can be approved and justified by the go- 
vernment of the U. S. 2d, Because it is no less difficult to com- 
prehend that that government should propose that the negociation 
( for which Mr. Baylies was sent here, should be solely for what 
might interest itself, without any reference to what might be re- 
quired from it ; and 3d, because with respect to the extreme mea. 
sure adopted by the Charge d'Affaires of asking his passport, the 
Minister took the libertv to consider it inopportune ; as it was not 



142 



PAPERS. 



uncommon in this kind of negociation, especially between two Re- 
publics of congenial principles, in order to avoid the appearance of 
a want of good understanding, to ask for fresh instructions ; that 
the government could not so far lose sight of an event which com- 
promised the honor and the dearest interests of a sovereign and 
independent state, as not to give it exclusively the first place in the 
negociation ; and that if unfortunately, when the Charge d'Affaires 
should have received the instructions of his government, the affair 
could not be concluded here, then the two governments would treat 
by means of a minister from this Republic being sent to the U.S.; 
and should they not be able to conclude the business there, then a 
neutral power should intervene. 

The Charge d'Affaires immediately asked, what were the ques- 
tions which should be submitted to a neutral power, and who that 
neutral power should be. 

He was answered that the Minister had ventured to throw out 
that indication with a sincere desire to prove to His Honor the 
Charge d'Affaires that his not being provided with sufficient in- 
structions did not render it necessary for hirn to ask for his pass- 
port ; and not that he considered it an affair of the moment, but 
one for the discussion of which time would present the proper op- 
portunity : That the principal questions were two ; one of fact, 
the other of right : That the first comprised the conduct of Capt. 
Duncan in the island of La Soledad, and the Minister repeated that 
until satisfaction was given for the insult, and reparation and in- 
demnification were made, he could not pass to the discussion of any 
other point : That he likewise repeated that it was an offence against 
the Argentine Government to announce the justification of the con- 
duct of an officer of the U. S. Navy when that officer had had no 
farther powers for acting than the general instructions given to the 
commanders of its naval force relative to the protection of the 
commerce, and citizens of the U. S. 

In this state the conference was ended ; the Charge d'Affaires 
atating that he still adhered to the request he had made for his pass- 
port, and recommending the government to decide promptly. 

The Minister stated to him that it was necessary to commit the 
conference to writing, and to insert it in the book or protocol of 
conferences. 

His Honor would not agree to this : the difference of language 
on the one part, and it not being customary to do so in the IL 
S.., prevented him from acceding to the wish of the Minister, not- 
withstanding all that he could urge in support of it. 



MANUEL VICENTE DE MAZA. 



PAPERS. 




[ No. XXX. ] 


(translation.) 

ro THE CHARGE D'AFFAIRES OF THE UNITED 
STATES OF AMERICA. 

Department of Foreign Relations, > 
Buenos-Ayres, September 3, 1832. $ 
The Government, surprised no less by His Honor the Charge 
d'Affaires having on the 18th ult. returned the copy of the report 
of Don Lewis Vernet, than by the statement that he has been sent 
here to justify the acts of Capt. Silas Duncan at the Malvinas, and 
that not having therefore any authority to stipulate reparation for 
them, his continuance here would be useless to his country, direct- 
ed the undersigned, previously to answering His Honor's commu- 
nication, to invite him to a conference, as the most easy and expe- 
ditious means to clear up any misunderstanding that might have oc- 
casioned the aforesaid return, and perhaps influenced the Charge 
d'Affaires's resolution to ask his passport. That conference ha- 
ving taken place on the 27th inst., and His Honor having objected 
to the proposal of the undersigned to resume it next day, and like- 
wise to the recording of minutes of what had occurred therein, the 
undersigned informed his government thereof, and has received or- 
ders to state to the Charge d'Affaires, that, it being impossible un- 
der such circumstances to proceed in a secure manner towards the 
happy termination of this affair, H. E. the Governor conceives it 
expedient to suspend all further negociation ; and, in consequence, 
the undersigned herewith remits the passport which the Charge 
d'Affaires has asked, regretting not having been able to gratify such 
a distinguished guest of a sister Republic, but cherishing the san- 
guine hope that the government of Washington, convinced of the 
insult and outrage committed on the dignity and honor of an inde- 
pendent and friendly nation, will feel the duty imposed upon it by 
justice and its own dignity of speedily granting redress and indem- 
nification for the grievances and injuries occasioned by one of its 
naval officers. 

1 9 



144 



PAPERS, 



On making this communication, the undersigned has the honor to 
inform the Charge d' Affaires that the directions which he requests 
for embarking his personal effects, have been issued, and takes the 
opportunity of tendering to His Honor the sentiments of his highest 
consideration and esteem. 

MANUEL VICENTE DE MAZA. 



PAPEBS, 




[ IVo. XXXI. ] 

(copy.) 

Legation of the United States op America, ^ 
Buenos- Ayres, September 6th, 1832. \ 

The undersigned, Charge d'Affaires from the United States of 
America, near this government, has the honor to inform His Ex- 
cellency the Minister of Grace and Justice charged provisionally 
with the Department of Foreign Affairs, that he has appointed and 
commissioned George Washington Slacum, Esqr., private secre- 
tary to the American mission, and that he is a member of his 
diplomatic family. 

The undersigned tenders to His Excellency the assurance of his 
high respect and consideration. 

FRANCIS BAYLIES 

His Excellency 
Dr. Don Manuel Vicente de Maza, 
Minister of Grace and Justice, 
Charged provisionally with the 
Department of Foreign Affairs. 



146 




(translation.) 

TO THE CHARGE D'AFFAIRES OF THE UNITED 
STATES OF AMERICA. 

Department of Foreign Relations, ) 
Buenos Ayres, September 7th, 1832. $ 
The undersigned, Minister of Grace and Justice, charged pro- 
visionally with the Department of Foreign Relations of the Argen- 
tine Republic, has had the honor of laying before his government 
the note under date of yesterday, addressed to him by the Hono- 
rable Francis Baylies, Charge d'Affaires of the U. S. of America., 
informing him that he has appointed and commissioned Mr. George 
W. Slacum private secretary to the American Legation, and that 
he is a member of his diplomatic family ; and although His Ex- 
cellency does not see in this nomination one of those official appoint- 
ments which should be announced to him, yet he has not been able 
to dissemble the astonishment which such an election has produced 
in him. 

The Charge d'Affaires cannot but be aware that Mr. Slacum, 
prosecuted by the magistrates of the country for a crime which 
the laws of the Republic punish even with the last penalty, suc- 
ceeded in eluding the search of the Police, by seeking asylum in 
His Honor's house, where he has remained accessible to his con- 
nections. 

After this event, the government of Buenos Ayres, who was not 
ignorant of the extent of its authority in the case of Mr. Slacum, 
nor of the immunity of the residence of a foreign public minister, 
flattered itself that it should merit from the Charge d'Affaires of 
the U. S. the respect which its excessively liberal conduct was 
calculated to inspire, and that he w T ould have comprehended, that 
notwithstanding the serious nature of the complaints against Mr. 
Slacum, the government was uniformly actuated by principles of 
moderation and circumspection. But if the Charge d'Affaires be 
not sensible of the circumstances which yet unfortunately surround 



PAPERS. 



141 



Mr. Slacuni, the undersigned is directed by his government to de- 
clare to His Honor, that its own dignity forbids it at present to 
consider that gentleman in any other light than that of a violator 
of the laws of the Republic, who has taken refuge in the house of 
the public minister of a friendly nation. 

The undersigned has the honor to salute the Charge d'AfFaires 
of the U. S. with his most distinguished attention. 

MANUEL VICENTE DE MAZA< 



PAPERS 

RELATIVE TO THE OCCUPATION OF 
BY 

GREAT BRITAIN, 



IN 1833a 



jPA*EB$- 151 




(translation.) 

TO THE HONORABLE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 



Buenos-Ayres, January 24th, 1833, — 24th year of the > 
liberty, and 18th of the independence of the Republic. $ 

If great has been the pain which the government has felt on 
receiving the news of the violent abuse of power exercised in the 
Malvinas by a vessel of war belonging to H. B. M., in dishonor of 
the Argentine flag, in violation of the integrity of the territory of 
the Republic, of its rights, of justice, and of the faith due to the 
relations of friendship and good understanding, cultivated without, 
interruption with the court of St. James ; it feels no less in ac- 
quainting the honorable representatives with that new and scan- 
dalous aggression, committed in the Malvinas by an officer of the 
English navy ; an aggression rendered more remarkable by the 
reciprocal relations and treaties of friendship and commerce exis- 
ting between the two countries, than that which was last year 
committed by the officer of another friendly nation — the U. S. of 
North America. 

The schooner-of-war Sarandi anchored in the outer roads on 
the 15th instant, on her return from Port Luis de la Soledad, in 
the Malvina Islands. Her commander, Don J. M. Pinedo, reports 
that he has returned from thence, prior to receiving orders for so 
doing, on account of H. B. M. vessel of war Clio, having, on the 
2d of this month, arrived in the island of Soledad, at a time when, 
owing to the insubordination of a few of the soldiers of the garri- 
son, the chief of the establishment had been killed, and good order 
disturbed (in the restoration of which the naval commander was 
occupied when the Clio arrived) ; that having sent two of his offi- 
cers on board the Clio, to make the corresponding offers of atten- 
tion and friendship, they returned and informed him that Mr. On- 
slow, the commander of H. B. M's sloop, intended to go on board 
the Sarandi ; which he did, on the same day, about three in the 
afternoon, accompanied by two of his officers ; and entering into 
conversation with the commander of the Sarandi, he informed him 
that ho came to take possession of the Malvinas, as belonging to 
H. B. M. ; and that he had positive orders to hoist the British flag 
thereon within twenty. four hours ; as he had already done in oth- 

2 o 



152 



PAPERS, 



er ports of the said islands ; and to give passage in a vessel to the 
officer and troops stationed there, and to the other inhabitants ; 
and to cause every thing belonging to Buenos Ayres to be embark- 
ed and sent off; in consequence whereof, he requested that the Argen- 
tine flag, which was then flying on the shore, might be struck the 
following day, as he was bound to fulfil the orders he had received. 

The surprise of Commandant Pinedo, under buch circumstances, 
was as natural as was unexpected the aggression and violent spo- 
liation which caused it, considering that this gross outrage was 
committed by a friendly and powerful nation which has always boast- 
ed of its fidelity and moderation, and which has lost no opportunity 
of manifesting the cordiality of i*s kind feelings towards the Ar- 
gentine Republic. Notwithstanding, after having made to Captain 
Onslow the corresponding protests, and remarking to him that if 
the two governments were in peace and friendship this proceeding 
was unaccountably strange, he told him that his duty would not 
allow him to consent to this unjust pretension without receiving 
express orders from his government. Mr. Onslow then took his- 
leave, telling Commandant Pinedo that he would reply to him in 
writing. 

In effect, about 4 o'clock in the afternoon of the same day (the 
2d), the said commandant received the note, of which the subjoined: 
No. 1 is a copy ; and on view of the intimation therein contained, 
he wished to resist at all hazards, when he met with difficulties 
which he considered insurmountable : nevertheless he resolved to 
send a deputation which, in the name of the government, should re- 
peat to Mr. Onslow the former protests, and inform him that if he 
contemplated executing his project by force, he should consider 
himself bound to resist it, and that he therefore hoped Capfi. Onslow 
would prefer waiting until the government should have marked cut 
to him (Pinedo) the line of conduct he ought to pursue. 

It was more than ten o'clock at night when the deputation re- 
turned en board the Sarandi without having been able to obtain 
an interview with Captain Onslow. 

In this state of affairs, after having endeavored to surmount the 
difficulties which, in his opinion, would render the most desperate 
resistance unavailing, he became thoroughly convinced of it; and 
at six o'clock on the morning of the 3d, he went personally on 
board the sloop Clio and, for the last time, protested to her com 
mander against the violation he was about to commit. Captain 
Onslow replied to him in the seiise of the latter part of the sub. 
joined note, assuring him that he could not defer the execution of 
the orders he had received for taking possession of the Malvinas ; 
that he could see what force he had, and that he was in momen- 
tary expectation of more ; that he, Commandant Pinedo, could 
therefore act as he might think fit. Commandant Pinedo, imme- 



PAPERS. 



153 



diately withdrew, declaring Great Britain responsible for the in- 
sult, and the violation of the dignity of the Republic and of its 
rights, which were thus inconsistently and disrespectfully tram- 
pled on, by force ; that he was going to -withdraw, but that he 
v/ould not strike the flag on the shore. 

Consequently, Commandant Pinedo returned to his vessel ; and 
adopted, among other measures, prior to setting sail, that of prohi- 
biting those on the island from lowering the Argentine flag, and of 
conferring the command of the establishment, in writing, on the 
overseer of the establishment Don Juan Simon, who was going to 
remain, with some others. 

At nine o'clock in the morning of the 3d, three boats manned 
with seamen and marines, from the English sloop, landed at the 
point of Port Luis, and placing a staff at the house of an Englishman, 
about four squares distant from the commandantcy, they hoisted 
thereon the British flag, and then proceeded to strike that of the 
Republic, which was still flying ; and which was immediately de- 
livered to the Sarandi by an officer sent for that purpose. Capt. 
Pinedo was ready, on that day, to remove from the scene of the 
insult ; but the weather obliged him to remain the whole of the 
4th and up to 5 o'clock on the evening of the 5th, when he set sail. 

The facts, as transmitted by the government to the honorable 
representatives, in conformity with the official despatch of the 
commander of the schooner Sarandi, exhibit a most flagrant abuse 
of power, and belie the friendly protestations it was accustomed to 
receive from a nation with which it endeavored to maintain the 
best understanding, by scrupulously fulfilling the duties imposed 
on it by the existing treaties, and exercising a generous liberali- 
ty, in proof of the most sincere friendship. By the copies Nos. 2, 
3, and 4, the honorable representatives will learn what steps have 
been taken by the government in this serious and delicate affair ; 
and likewise its firm resolution to maintain the rights of the Argen- 
tine Republic, and not to come to any accommodation inconsistent 
with the national honor ; taking every measure which justice and 
prudence may dictate, for the purpose of obtaining from the cabi- 
net of H. B. M. full reparation, the acknowledgment of our right 
to the Malvinas, and the exercise of our dominion over that ter- 
ritory ; and should this not suffice, then to adopt such measures as ma y 
be most conducive to obtaining a declaration of the opinion of the I 
world, to which a government like that of England, which wishes 
to be considered as ranking among the most free and enlightened 
of Europe, cannot be indifferent. 

God preserve the honorable representatives many years. 

JUAN RAMON BALCARC E. 
Manuel Vicente pe Maza. 



154 



PAPERS, 




[ No. I. ] 



(copy.) 

His Majesty's Sloop Clio, } 
Berkley Sound, 2d January, 1833. $ 

Sir : 

I have to acquaint you, I have received directions from his 
Excellency the Commander in Chief of his Britannic Majesty's 
ships and vessels of war, South American station, in the name of 
his Britannic Majesty to execute the " rights of sovereignty over 
these islands." 

It is my intention to hoist, to-morrow morning, the national flag 
of Great Britain on shore, when I request you will be pleased to 
haul down your flag on shore, and withdraw your forces, taking 
with you all stores, &c, belonging to your Government. 

I am, Sir, 

Your most obedient humble servant, 

J. J. ONSLOW s Commander, 

His Excellency the Commander of 

the Buenos Ayrean forces at Port Louis. 

Berkley Sound. j 



PAPERS* 



155 




[ No. II. ] 



(translation.) 

TO THE CHARGE D'AFFAIRES ad interim OF H. B, M. 



Department of Foreign Relations, 
Buenos-Ayres, January 16, 1833. ^ 
24:th year of the Liberty^ and l&th of the Indepen- \ 
dence of the Republic. J 

The undersigned, Minister of Grace and Justice, charged pro- 
visionally with the Department of Foreign Relations of the Argen- 
tine Republic, has the honor to address the Charge d'Affaires ad 
interim of H. B. M. in this city to acquaint him, that the govern- 
ment has just learned that the commander of H. B. M's sloop- 
of- war Clio has taken possession of the island of La Soledad, in the 
Malvinas, hoisting the British flag where that of the Argentine 
Republic waived. This unexpected event has sensibly affected 
the feelings of the Government of Buenos Ayres ; and although it 
cannot discover any thing to justify such a proceeding, neverthe- 
less, presuming that the Charge d'Affaires whom the undersigned 
addresses, is informed upon a measure which openly compromises 
the dignity and rights of the Argentine Republic, it has directed 
the undersigned to request of the Charge d'Affaires of H. B. M., 
the competent explanations. 

God preserve the Charge d'Affairs many years. 



MANUEL VICENTE DE MAZA. 




[ No. III. ] 



(copy.) 

Buenos-Ayres, January 17, 1833. 

The undersigned, his Britannic Majesty's Charge d'Affaires, in 
acknowledging the receipt of the note, dated yesterday, of his Ex- 
cellency Senor Don Manuel Vicente de Maza, Minister charged 
with the Department of Foreign Relations of the Argentine Re- 
public, has the honor to inform his Excellency that he has received 
no instructions from his court to make any communication to the 
government of Buenos Ayres upon the subject to which his Excel- 
lency's note refers. 

The undersigned will hasten to submit it to his Majesty's govern- 
ment, and he avails himself of this opportunity to repeat to his Ex - 
cellency Senor de Maza the assurance of his high and distinguished 
consideration. 

PHILIP G. GORE. 



To His Excellency 

Senor Don Manuel Vicente de Maza, 
&c. &c. 



PAPERS, 



157 




[ No. IV. ] 



(translation.) 

TO THE CHARGE D'AFFAIRES OF H. B M 
PHILIP G. GORE, Esqr. 

Department of Foreign Relations, > 
Buenos-Ayres, January 22, 1833. \ 
The undersigned, Minister of Grace and Justice, charged provi- 
; onally with the Department of Foreign Relations of the Argentine 
republic, is directed by his government to address the Charge 

^ dl Z Sad m l7 im ° f H ' R M - in this city, and inform him, that 
on the 2d inst. H. B. M's sloop-of-war Clio anchored in the Port of 
ban Luis, in the island of La Soledad, one of the Maivinas, for the 
purpose of taking possession of them as belonging to H. B. M — 
Capt. Onslow of the said vessel stating that he had positive orders 
to hoist the British flag on shore within twenty four hours. He 
had already c one so in other ports of the islands, and finally did 
the same m that of La Soledad, in defiance of the protests of the 

fiZTot r 1 SCh T er - 0f " War Samndi ' wh0 ^ there ™ li- 
niment of orders from his government, which through a fatality of 

unforeseen circumstances, he could not strictly perform, by forcibly 
resisting tne occupation of the islands—The undersigned abstain* 
vioW P T m ? fr ° m ex P atiatin ? ™ the inconsistency of such L 
violent and rude proceeding in a time of profound peace, when the 
close and friendly relations between the Wo Governments on the 

intont" ' > n u%° tk r thG ™ de ^™> cordiality and purity of 
intentions, of winch England has made ostentation, gave no reason 

iTwou dS the C ° nfldenCC m - Which the At &««™ ^public " 
posed would be so unceremoniously violated. Nevertheless, in 
fu filment of the orders of his government and in its name, in con 
SKleration of what we owe to our own dignity, to posterity a id to 
the deposit which the United Provinces have entrusted to h - o. 
vernment of Buenos Ayres, and in short, to the whole workl v. bos. 
eyes are fixed upon us,— the undersigned protests in the mast for. 



158 



PAPERS. 



mal manner against the pretensions of the government of Great 
Britain to the Malvina Islands, and its occupation of them, as like- 
wise against the insult offered to the flag of the Republic, and 
against the damages which the latter has received and may receive 
in consequence of the aforesaid proceedings, and whatever may 
hereafter take place on the part of the British government in this 
respect. The Charge d'AfFaires, whom the undersigned addresses, 
will please transmit this protest to his government, and manifest 
the decided resolution of this Republic to sustain its rights, at the 
same time that it desires to maintain inviolate the friendly relations 
which it has hitherto cultivated with Great Britain, and that peace 
may prosper and be perpetual between both States. 

God preserve the Charge d'Affaires, Philip G. Gore, Esqr., 
many years. 

MANUEL VICENTE DE MAZA. 




[ No. V. ] 

(copy.) 

Buenos-Ayres, January 24th, 1838. 

The undersigned, his Britannic Majesty's Charge d'AfFaires, 
has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the note, which his 
Excellency Senor Don Manuel Vicente de Maza, Minister of Grace 
and Justice, charged with the Department of Foreign Relations of 
the Argentine Republic, has addressed to him, dated 22d instant. 

The undersigned will lose no time in transmitting his Excellen- 
cy's note to his Majesty's government. 

He avails himself of this opportunity to renew to his Excellency 
Senor de Maza the assurance of his high and distinguished con- 
sideration. 

PHILIP G. GORE. 

His Excellency 

Senor Don Manuel Vicente de Maza, 
&c. &c. 



ERRATA. 



Page 19— line 44— for had been, read, had not been. 
» 47 — » 7 — for assented, w asserted. 
» 50 — » last — for Magellan, }) Magdalen. 
» 63— » 11— for these, » those. 
» 65 — )} 34 — for transgression," aggression. 
» 67 — )} 5 — for returned, » rendered. 
» 68— » 42— for if whether, » whether. 
}> 69 — » 14 — for listening, }) by listening. 
» » — » 26 — fox palatable, » palpable. 

}> 122 — » 42 — for indissolutely, » indissolubly. 

OCT Several typographical errors have unavoidably occurred ;' — 
but, as they do not alter the sense, it has not been doomed 
necessary to notice them. 



UN "3 



